A New Sibling
by twobluebearies
Summary: In which Spock gets a new sibling. What will their life together be like? Every chapter is an episode.
1. A Friend

Spock was hiding under his blanket. Which four-year-old would not be, after being introduced to a new sibling? "Look," his mother had said, "this is Michael, Michael is your new sister." Little Spock had mustered the girl, who was half a meter taller and four years older than him, the second human after his mother he had ever met. She had looked like she would be feeling the particular emotion he always felt when he thought of the monsters who definitely (although his father always denied this) hid in his dark bedroom. _Fear_ he believed to be the word. _Afraid_ was the fitting adjective. The girl had been afraid.

But why had they adopted the girl? As a being who was already used to be frowned upon, he was led to believe that this must have to do something with him. Maybe his parents weren't content with his overall being. After all, he was only a half-breed. He still heard the other children shout 'half-breed, half-breed, half-breed', when he had attempted to play with them yesterday. To little Spock it was very clear that this must be the reason. When he was despised for being nothing but a half-breed, so must a full human be better than him. After all, nobody picked at his older brother Sybok, who himself was fully Vulcan. Despite himself, little Spock began to cry underneath his blanket.

Some while later, his door opened silently and a big fluff of fur let itself in. A few seconds after, a big animal jumped on his tiny bed, making it screech in desperation. "I-Chaya, you are not allowed on the…", Spock managed, before being interrupted by a big, wet tong. His sehlat did not care for rules when his master was sad, as soon as he felt this striking mixture of anger, loneliness and helplessness, I-Chaya was there to collect the delicious tears. Too bad the tears always stopped as soon as I-Chaya laid his paws on his master's chest. Both stayed in their respective positions for a while.

When little Spock was almost at sleep under is only and furry friend, his door opened again. Spock turned his face to the door. Who could it be, he wondered? He was somewhat astonished to see the girl, Michael. She looked almost shocked, there in the door frame. Spock just looked at her silently. "What is that?", the girl finally asked. Spock wondered what she could be talking about. "Clarify.", he ordered. "The animal." "Ahh. This is I-Chaya, my sehlat. He is a Tl'iki-breed." Michael crossed the room in an instant and began to pet I-Chaya behind his ears. The sehlat purred, sending his vibrations through Spock's body. Spock wished she would go. She didn't even think of it. Instead she sat down on the rim of his bed.

"SpoCK, that's your name, isn't it?", she asked. Spock winced on hearing his name so badly pronounced. "It is SpOck.", he answered slightly annoyed. "I'm sorry. Well, um, since we're going to be siblings, maybe we could as well be friends?", she asked uneasy. Little Spock lifted an eyebrow. "Friends?", he asked incredulously. "Yes.", Michael almost whispered. "We cannot be friends." "But why? I don't understand.", Michael seemed on the edge of crying. "You are obviously here so that I can see that even a human fills their parents expectations better than a half-breed like me." Michael looked shocked. "No way. Why would Sarek and Amanda do such a thing?" Spock looked at the ceiling. "How do you then explain your presence here?", he asked sharply. Overwhelmed by too fresh memories of loss, Michael rolled up on herself and trembled slightly. Spock did in no way understand what the strange girl on his bed was doing. "What is it?", he therefore asked, but he got no reply. Full of newly ignited curiosity, he extended his hand. His hand touched her face for an awkward second. It was enough for Spock to get a general impression of her thoughts and especially her feelings.

It was dark, like a closet. Outside were voices, in a language Spock couldn't understand. Then, out of the sudden, a female cried out. "No! Please, no!" Fear and anger. Spock turned to his companion. "Your parents were killed.", he stated. Michael managed to nod. "But why are you here, on Vulcan?" It took a while, but Michael answered. "Your mom studied with mine. I don't have so many relatives, so she offered to care for me." "It has nothing to do with me, then.", Spock concluded. "We can be friends then, I assume.", he added. Michael lifted her head. A tiny smile spread over her face. "Okay.", she said. Since her new little brother and friend looked somewhat confused at the phrase, she altered it. "I would be pleased.", she said instead. Little Spock nodded. "What kind of games do they play on earth?", he asked, pure joy glittering through his eyes.

They spent the rest of the day playing hide and seek inside the rather spacious house. Once it was Spock's turn again, he went to hide in the library. Behind one of the shelves was a tiny space, but big enough for his body. He waited. Would she find him? He found that, although it was at least in his eyes an illogical game, he played with an enthusiasm he barely knew of himself.

It was not long before the door to the library was opened. He tried to breath as silent as possible. Footsteps came in his direction. Were they those of Michael? No, he thought, they were too heavy. Now the person kneeled down and grabbed one of the books in front of his face. Spock didn't move. It was of no use, he had been seen. "What are you doing behind the shelve?", Sybok asked in Vulcan. "Hiding.", Spock answered matter-of-factly. "She will not go away with this; your actions are illogical." Being almost ten years older than his little brother, Sybok felt and often was superior to Spock. He let him see that whenever he had a chance to. Uncharacteristically, he appeared to speak to himself, as he stood up and went to leave the library. "I have more reason to hide behind some piece of furniture. First, it is you, a disgrace to our family, and now her, a human. Why am I supposed to live together with such illogical creatures? It is somewhat tiring, to say the least." As he was almost at the door, it swung open and Michael crashed into him with a shriek. "E-Excuse me, Sybok.", she managed, still lying on the floor. "It is of no consequence, human. But I have to ask that you stay out of my way in the future." With that, he took a big step over her and out of the room.

Spock left his hide and went to Michael, even now still on the floor and somewhat shaken up. "Are you unharmed?", he inquired. She nodded. "Sybok does not seem to like me.", she said. "He does not _like_ me either, I believe.", was the return. "No? But why?" "He has just called me a disgrace." "Oh, well, then you're probably right." They were silent for a few moments. "I like you, Spock. You're no disgrace to anyone." She watched with amazement how her companion turned slightly emerald. He turned his head to look at the wooden mosaic on the floor. "You have found me. It is now my turn to search for you.", he murmured. Michael jumped up and was immediately running to hide herself, while Spock began to count.


	2. On the Matter of Nightmares

Several weeks had passed since Michael Burnham had become little Spock's new sister. She was now more or less aquainted to her new school and had even met a few students who didn't have reservations against humans. If asked, she would have said that she quite liked her new family and life. That was, of course, when she left out the nightmares that haunted her at night.

Now was such a night again. She threw herself around, almost banging her head against the wall, before finally waking up, breathing hard. Again, she had heard her parents die. Again, she had been unable to do something against it. Again, she had heard the klingons laugh. She rolled herself in the blanket and whimpered lowly. She tried to breath evenly, but it was of no real use. She began sobbing. It took her a while until she got calm again, but she managed. Now her face felt like it was on fire. The rest of her body didn't feel any better either. She decided to roll out of bed and head to the washing room at one of the hallway's ends.

She kept it dark as she stumbled to the bath. She didn't want to wake neither Spock nor Sybok who had the two rooms next to hers. She didn't believe that she could handle Sybok's sharp comments at the moment. As she passed Spock's room, she thought to have heard a faint noise, but went along her way. Maybe he was just talking in his sleep? Could he even do that? Michael wasn't sure.

After she had cooled her face with some water, making sure she didn't spill any, she turned to return to her room. She made only a few steps before she collided with an as tall as dark figure who had appeared silently. Michael made a little sound of surprise. "Is there something wrong, Michael?", Sarek asked. She could not see it, but he most certainly lifted at least one eyebrow. "No, everything is alright.", she answered fast, not being thrilled at the prospect of explaining her completely illogical emotions to a stoic Vulcan. "You are emotionally compromised." It was a statement, not a question.

"Come.", he ordered. Michael followed him to her room. To her surprise, he sat on her bed and told her with a handsign to do the same. "It is something that will always be with you, for the rest of your life. You cannot change the past, but you can learn to live with it. Do you understand?" He took her wrinkled blanket and laid it over her back. "Only you can do this, learn to live with your own past, but others may help. From what I have learned of humans, it will take long and it will sometimes be rather difficult, but you will finally overcome the struggle." "Yes?", Michael asked, unbelieving. "Yes, you will. Now, try to rest. Tomorrow will be another day of school for you." With that, he left. "Thank you, Sarek.", she murmured as he was almost at the door. He didn't turn around. "One does not thank logic.", he cited a Vulcan saying before letting himself out. It didn't take Michael long before she felt into a dreamless state of sleep.

The next morning, she met Spock on the hallway, wondering about his unusual pale complection. "Are you alright?", she asked him somewhat concerned. He looked away. "The monsters in my room made it impossible to rest adequately." Michael nodded, unable to supress at least a little smile. "Of course."

While eating his to'mek, a porridge-like substance, Spock's spoon slipped out of his tiny fingers. It hit the bowl with a loud clink, spilling to'mek over the table and his preschool uniform. Everyone turned to him, either judging him or being concerned. "Oh, Spock!", his mother laughed while getting up for a cleaning rag. "You're usually not that clumsy. Do you feel sick?", Amanda asked while trying to get his uniform a little cleaner. "Just tired, Mother.", Spock replied, green from embarrassment. Sybok used the opportunity to look away ostentivly, not making the situation better. Sarek threw him a hard glance, and Sybok began to eat again, a little green himself.

Later that day, after school had ended, Michael walked the short distance from the station to their home, Spock right behind her. It was now the third time in the last five minutes that he yawned. She wondered about what she could do to make Spock sleep better. Imagined threats could only be adressed with imagination, she knew. Almost home, she finally had an idea. "Spock, we're going to do some tinkering.", she told her compagnion.

As Amanda came home from the sience academy, she found Spock and Michael sitting on the carpet in Spock's room. It took her some good seconds to get behind what they were doing. Michael held a circle made out of wire and Spock was evaluating which type of twine he should use. Some pearls laid on the floor as well. "Are you making dream catchers?", she asked in bewilderment. Michael nodded. "Yes. One for me and one for Spock." "Michael says that those constructs will trap the monsters that come at night.", Spock told her. "Of course it will, darling.", Amanda said with a smile. "May I help you with it?", she added. Spock didn't object so she sat next to him on the carpet.

As he was putting his kids to sleep, Sarek wondered about the strange circle-shaped object on the wall over his sons bed, but he did not ask for the reason. But Spock, being attentive, saw his glance. "It is called a dream catcher.", he told his father. Sarek took the construct in one hand and examined the used materials. "It is just a piece of wire and a length of twine.", he stated. "It will catch the monsters." Spock was enthusiastic. "Did mother tell you this?", Sarek asked critically. Spock nodded. "I see." Sarek turned the lights off and took a big step over I-Chaya who was already laying next to the bed. "I whish you a pleasant rest, my son.", he told Spock and left. "Humans.", he murmured to himself as he strolled down the hallway.


	3. Storytime

The sandstorm howled with full intensity against the walls and windows. There was no reason to be concerned, since the annual storm had been expected and Sarek's ancestors had long ago installed appropriate automatic security measures. Nevertheless, Spock hid in his pet's fluffy fur. It was the first sandstorm in his sentinent life, and a very human part of him was terrified to death. A remarkibly strong blow banged against his window, making him huddle even closer to I-Chaya, who purred at the contact. The sehlat did not care for sandstorms, but it was unclear if it was caused by his inability to comprehend, his lack of interest or his experience with them.

For lack of other activities, the time of the sand wind had come to be a time for meditation. While both Sarek and Sybok were currently following this tradition, the rest of the house were not. Spock, still being young and unexperienced, had given up on it hours ago, somewhat ashamed at what appeared to him as a failure. He had therefore stayed in his room, so nobody could see his shame. The others were not following it, since this holiday made only little sense for humans.

Spock, his boredom now stronger than his shame, slid out of his dark room into the hallway and opened the next door, which led to Michael's room. The girl was sitting on a chair before a writing table and watched the boards before her window shake with every new gust. She turned to him as he entered. "Is this always so loud?", she asked slightly concerned. "I do not know.", Spock answered truthfully. "Let's do something to distract ourselves, shall we?", Michael proposed.

They played a bord game called 'The battlefield', which had some, but not many similarities to chess. Michael was still quite amazed that the pacifistic Vulcan people gave their children rather militaristic toys, on the excuse of teaching them strategy, of course. After Michael had won for the second time, Spock didn't feel like playing anymore. He was positively pouting. "Whoever is ready to play must be ready to lose, my brother dear!", Michael shouted triumphantly. Her words were followed by another gush against the boards, now even stronger than before. They looked at each other. "Maybe we can find mother somewhere?", Spock proposed and Michael agreed.

They found her in a little room which she used as an office. It was the one room in which she allowed herself not to observe Vulcan tidiness. Notes were lying in a heap next to staples of linguistics books, some of them even on the ground. Over the table hung a big poster which showed the federation and the languages spoken within. Amanda had made some notes on it as well.

"Is there something which needs my immediate attention?", Amanda asked after hearing the door open. She was currently reading a very fascinating article about the evolution of grammar on Andoria, written by one of her colleagues. The children didn't answer, both a little ashamed of their irrational fear. Amanda took her eyes off the article with a silent sigh and watched her children stand in the doorway. "You are afraid of the storm?", she asked. Michael nodded. "I'm gonna read you a story. I'm sure that this will help.", she decided.

A few minutes later all three of them sat in the library, on giant pillows made for that exact reason. On a tiny nearby table Amanda had placed a plate with cookies. Sarek did not like to see food being eaten next to his (and his wife's) books, in the (very logical) fear that they might become dirty, but Amanda had decided that, just for today, he didn't need to know. At the moment, the children were chosing which book she should read to them. There was a section with childrens' books, mostly Vulcan, and Michael did not know any of the titles she read. Spock seemed undecided as well. Now Michael came to the end of the shelf, were she found a few Terran books; they probably belonged to Amanda. She took the one with the most colorful back. "That one.", she decided.

Amanda smiled. From all the possibilities, Michael had chosen 'Alice in Wonderland'. It was Amanda's favorite. She had inherited it long ago from her mother. After everyone had taken their place and a cookie, she began to read.

It took her a little longer than usual to read, due to Spock inquiring about the mentioned animals, and why they could speak. "You know, it is not important for the story why they can speak, only that they can.", she told him. "But this seems unrealistic to me!", Spock countered. "It's Wonderland, it is like that there." Spock was slightly sulking at that. "Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?" "I do!" "Be silent then.", she ordered him. As usual, she was astonished at how well imitating Sarek worked with her son. For the rest of the story, he did not say a word.

The evening had come and the storm had subsided a little. Michael and Spock risked a glance outside, pulling away one of the automatic sand doors. There was still a lot of sand in the atmosphere, but far, far away they could see a tiny bit of evening sky. Michael could swear that she heard Spock murmur. "Curiouser and curiouser."

 _Thank you for your comments!_


	4. Sickday

Spock was incredibly bored. Sure, he still felt rather dizzy, his arms itched inexplicably and his mother had told him that he was running a fever, but he just didn't feel like staying in bed anymore. Even I-Chaya had left, probably searching for food somewhere. So, he curled his favorite green (hypoallergenic) blanket around him and stood up.

The house was very silent, now that his siblings were at school and his mother was teaching linguistic classes. His father had stayed at home to look after him. Being an ambassador came with the possibility of doing home office whenever it pleased him, especially now, after he had taken on a more bureaucratic role in the diplomatic corps so he wouldn't have to travel that often. Caring for three children was a full-time job, after all. Gladly, Vulcan society had similar views on that, so nobody would frown on him for stopping his career.

Sarek was currently reading the newsfeed. If anybody would have asked, he would have surely said that it was for research purposes and certainly not because he was tired of filling out forms. He had left the door to his office slightly open so he could hear Spock, if necessary. Now he did indeed hear Spock, but instead of the sound emerging from his room, the place of origin was next to his left shoulder. He should have bought a less dampening carpet, he thought. "What is that?", his son had asked, somewhat disgusted and pointing to the PADD. Sarek, shocked by his sudden appearance, did not show it. "The article tells about a current plague of gl'ik worms, as you can see." The worms were fat, white and at least one foot long. They had red stings at their rear ends. "Are they dangerous?", his son asked, now seeming a little troubled. "Their sting is slightly poisonous, but the victim will only show very unspecific signs, like fever, dizziness, a loss in appetite and a rash, most often on their extremities. There is no antidote, since the sickness disappears after some days. But you need not to worry, this species only lives in the desert or on fields, preferably in the shadows."

Spock looked up to him, completely terrified. With a soundless and very Vulcan sigh, Sarek picked him up and placed him on his lap. He had found that his sometimes so Human son needed this show of affection from time to time to maintain his mental health. "I believe you ought to be in bed?", he asked him rhetorically. Instead of answering, Spock rolled up one of his sleeves, revealing his glowing green rash underneath. "The dream catcher did not work, father.", he murmured. "You have told me that those so called 'monsters' only move at night, is that correct?" Spock nodded faintly, moving a little closer to his father. "The data given indicates that there is at least one gl'ik worm in your bed room. I shall investigate this further.", he sat Spock down and left the room a little faster than necessary.

It was impossible for little Spock to keep up to his speed. After he had toddled up the stairs and down the hallway, Sarek was already lying on the floor and studied the underside of his bed. "We will need a flashlight. I believe you possess one?", he asked as Spock finally entered. Spock went over to a cupboard, took it out and handed the object to his father. Sarek turned it on and illuminated the underside of the bed. Immediately, something made a screeching sound, and Sarek had seen, only for a short moment, a white and segmented body, which was fleeing into the darkness. Now Sarek was a little terrified as well, since he had set his son's welfare at risk by not listening to his story about monsters in his room.

"You better wait outside.", he told Spock softly, before leaving to get some equipment. A few minutes later he reappeared, now wearing gardener's gloves and carrying a bucket. It came in handy that his wife kept gloves in his size. As told, Spock waited next to his room, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, all while still being wrapped up in his blanket. He looked utterly miserable. He felt a little guilty as he told him to take the flashlight and use it underneath his mattress, to make the worms crawl out of their hideout. He had previously pulled the bed away from the wall, but to no effect. With the flashlight method, they were fleeing like their life depended on it. Sarek caught the first worm as it tried to crawl underneath the bed sheet, the second shortly after, only the third tried to hide behind the bed post, but it was of no use. All three of them landed in the bucket, making a sound like soaked and slightly slimy pieces of bread. Sarek searched for eventual comrades of the gl'ik, but he didn't find any. Not even eggs, which was rather peculiar, when one thought of the length of time they must have stayed in Spock's room. He did not ponder long on this question but went to let the worms outside, followed by little Spock.

They went through the garden with its rosebushes and left it through a back door in the wall which framed it. Behind the door began the desert. They only went a few meters, since Sarek only now realized that Spock was barefooted and that the sand in the midday sun was rather hot. Therefore, he placed the worms in the shadow of the next big stone, and they returned home.

Back inside, Spock had gotten even paler than before. Sarek didn't want to explain to Amanda why Spock was now being worse than in the morning. "You are going to bed, now.", he ordered. "But father!", Spock protested, this overly Human sound in his voice. "You need to rest. You are sick." "But if I get bitten again?", Spock asked. "I have successfully removed all gl'ik worms." "There is a possibility that you have missed one. It is therefore logical not to take the risk which lays in returning to my bed." Although Sarek was sure that his son used a logical argument to hide his emotions, he found that he shared them for once. "I believe my bed is free of animals.", he stated.

Spock was now lying under two blankets, his own and his father's. The curtains made the room nicely dark. He had his eyes already closed and Sarek wanted to return to his office, since he had still some things to do. "Father, I have a question.", Spock stopped him from leaving. "What is this question?" "Why did you not kill them? They were scary." Sarek slightly shook his head. He returned to the bed. "It is wrong to kill out of revenge, especially when the enemy is an animal, unaware of its own existence. It just acts out of instinct." "I-Chaya knows who he is!", Spock protested. "A sehlat is somewhat special in that respect, yes, but certainly a gl'ik worm is not." Spock finally nodded, simultaneously curling himself more underneath the blankets. "Sleep well.", Sarek ordered before he finally left.


	5. Not Only Spock

Sybok was working in the school's library, between quite a few of his classmates. He currently studied an article about warp engines and made some notes for the essay he was preparing to write. Behind his back, somebody spoke up in Vulcan. "You are occupying my place." Sybok turned to see a classmate of his, called Vasik. "If I am not misinformed, then there is no right of reserving places in the library.", he returned coldly. Vasik stared back, his stare as cold as solid hydrogen. "I do not believe that anyone who lives with three humans should have any rights."

That statement felt like a rock in Sybok's face. Although he had an idea what the reasoning behind this could be, he asked Vasik for his line of logic. "If our society is meant to survive, then there shall be no place for those who do not follow Surak's principles in every degree possible. I assume there is a certain… contamination in your house that would not allow you to be as disciplined as others. Therefore, leave this table to individuals like me, who will bring prosperity to this world."

It took Sybok quite an effort to control himself. If he was now to show even the smallest hint of emotion, he would only prove Vasik right. He took the book and his notes and relinquished his place. "Leave the book.", Varik ordered. Sybok, out of alternatives, left it on the table and turned to go.

When he was in some distance, still in the crowded but completely silent library, he heard the student he had previously sat next to whisper to Vasik. "What a great feat of reasoning!" "One does not compliment logic.", Vasik answered. Sybok was sure that this must have been the most tasteless use of this phrase he had ever encountered. He tried to find a new place to study, but all were filled. Finally, next to the wall, he found a vacant space. As he went for it, the girl next to it took her backpack from underneath the table and placed it on the chair. She stared right in his direction, there was no question if she had seen him or not. Sybok stopped right in his tracks. Was everyone now plotting against him? He decided that this would not get to him, and left the library without detour.

When the evening came, Sybok was already at home. He had left his school after the scene in the library. Fortunately, he was in an age were self-responsibility was promoted and nobody had stopped him from leaving. Amanda had given him an odd look when he came home early, but hadn't said anything. He used the time to meditate. There was a feeling he hadn't felt for a long time, anger. Anger not against someone specific, but against the world in general. Why could his father not have decided on a more orthodox, more Vulcan mate? It was not that he particularly disliked Amanda, but he could not ignore how much simpler his life would be without her.

From outside the door he heard a sound. I-Chaya made the screeching sound which was typical for an agitated Sehlat, and his little brother called for the animal. Spock. With all his shields down because of the meditation he was performing and the sudden appearance of a focal point of his misery, he could not hold himself back anymore. Before his consciousness could react, he was at the door, ripping it open without using the handle, destroying part of the frame in the progress, stepping outside and giving Spock a smack, which send him to the ground. It was only then that he regained his control at least partly. For a few seconds he only stared at his little brother, who was lying flat on his back and deeply shocked. He did not look harmed, at least. I-Chaya had since long realized what had happened and began to growl. "Sybok!", somebody called out for him, equally shocked about the current happening. Michael was standing in the hallway and had seen every detail of what had happened. Sybok repressed an urge to make her face touch the ground as well and almost ran into his room, throwing the door behind him.

"Are you alright?", Michael asked her little brother. He nodded with a glassy expression in his eyes. She helped him up and led him into her room. They sat on the floor. "What has just happened?", Michael inquired. "Is this a rhetorical question?" "No! Surely, I understand what has happened, but not why!" "I do not know."

Soon after, it was time for dinner. It had been Sarek's turn to cook, since Amanda gave a late course at the Science Academy. Michael thought that his cooking didn't taste bad, but she could only describe it as "logical-tasting". It was all fine, until they realized that Sybok was missing. That was odd. Normally, he would be early for food, like any other teenager in the known universe. But not today. Spock watched his parents communicate silently. Sarek finally went up the stairs.

Sybok was sitting on his meditation mat, rigid from concentration. The door was ripped open, disturbing him quite a bit. Sarek studied the shattered frame. "I presume the door attacked first?", he asked with an arched eyebrow. His son didn't answer. "You first need to acknowledge the problem, before you can go on and solve it. What is the problem, Sybok?" Sybok, still on the mat, looked away. Sarek kneeled before him. "I can help you, but only if you let me.", he whispered. Sybok took a deep breath. "I cannot speak about it." "Would you agree to a meld?", Sarek tried to negotiate. "Yes.", Sybok mouthed. Sarek lifted his right hand from his lap and placed it on Sybok's face. They became one.

Sarek had seen the happenings of the afternoon, in the library. He had felt what Sybok had felt. Helplessness. Anger. He had also seen what had occurred at home, how he had slapped Spock, and most importantly, why. "You are not in any degree worse than anybody else. Do not believe what they say, because it is not true. You need to prove them wrong. Do not back down. Stay where you are. I am assured that you can do that." "But father, I…I lost control. Does this not need to be addressed?" "Nobody was seriously hurt, and Spock will remember to be silent when inside." Sarek gave a half-smile. Sybok didn't seem to understand. "Those lapses in control help us remember why we follow the path we do, Sybok. You are still young. It is alright." Both were silent for a minute. "I prepared Plomeek soup. It would be a waste to let it cool." Sybok nodded and followed Sarek down the stairs.


	6. The Le'matya

Rosebushes grew to left and to the right side of the gravel way. Surely, they were not entirely authentic roses, for such would dry out quickly in Eridani's light. Instead, Amanda had planted plants whose genes were mixed from earth's roses and the Ucalix desert flower. Although they looked fairly similar to the original, there were some light changes, most prominent the blue color of the petals, a trait inherited from the Ucalix. It was early in the morning when Amanda left the house through the glass door in the living room. She wanted to water her flowers before the sun's ray would be magnified by the water drops and burn her greenery. This was all before she saw the le'matya of course.

For an uncountable amount of time, she could not move any muscle. How could the giant animal even get through the small and now opened door at the backside of the garden with its three stone walls? The le'matya had smelled her and turned its giant head with the mortal fangs. Amanda, now freed from her trance, turned on the heel and almost jumped inside again, closing the door behind her. Her heart beat in an almost Vulcan manner.

"Amanda!", somebody called out. Speaking of Vulcans. Her husband first inspected her for injuries, when he found none he turned his attention to the garden. For a moment they just stood next to the glass front, side by side, and watched the intruder. "What do we do about that?", Amanda finally asked. "There are specialized personnel for such occasions.", Sarek said absently. He watched as the le'matya hurled itself over a low wall and underneath a little roof, which provided a shadowy seating area. It knocked over several plants in the process and broke the table which had been part of the seating area. Now it curled up, its tail slung around its face. "The le'matya appears to be in some kind of distress.", Sarek noted coldly. "I always imagined them to be bigger." "This one might not be an adult individual. It appears a little small to me as well." They watched the beast for a little longer.

"If this is a kid, where is its mother then?", Amanda asked. Before Sarek even had the chance to answer, Michael and Spock came running down the stairs. "Be it a successful day", they said simultaneously and in Vulcan. Almost out of reflex, Sarek closed the curtains so the children would not see the le'matya in their garden. Then he turned to them. "Good morning.", he answered in English. Amanda took a moment to look completely dumbstruck at the wine-red piece of cloth which was now hanging directly in front of her face. Slowly, she turned to the table where the children were already sitting and served them some to'mek. Sybok came down and sat himself next to Spock, making his little brother squirm in remembrance of last week's incidence.

Amanda let out one of those secret sighs. For now, she would play along with Sarek. The mentioned leaned on the kitchen counter and tapped something on a PADD. He appeared (in a very Vulcan fashion) nervous. Just because of a little le'matya? He could face a board of federation officials and ask for a tax reduction on Vulcan's dilithium exports but not stand an undomesticated animal in his garden? That seemed unlikely, to say the least.

As their children were ready to leave for school, an unusual sound emerged from the curtained windows. _Flop. Flop. Flop._ Spock, as the most curious of the three, pushed the curtain aside and looked outside. His eyes widened and one could hear his breath hitch.

What he saw was surely worth of such a reaction. A helicopter stood still in the air over the garden. From it hung on steel cables a giant transportation aid and a man holding a phaser. To make the scene even more unlikely, a le'matya was standing in his mother's roses. The animal was immediately stunned by the man's phaser, crashing on the roses. The man was let down a little more and slung the transportation aid around the beast's body. He was pulled up again. The helicopter lifted itself up in the sky, taking the le'matya with it. It was heading to the Llagoon montains, the probable point of origin for the animal.

After they had managed to calm down Spock and most prominently Michael, they sent them to school together with Sybok. After Sarek had closed the door, Amanda almost exploded. "Why didn't you tell them away from the beginning?", Sarek didn't react. "I don't believe they would have been overly scared. As they weren't when they finally found out." "It was for my own sake. To close the curtains made it easier to ignore what was behind." Now Amanda understood. "You are scared of le'matyas?", she asked. Sarek was now very interested in the weaving pattern of the carpet, a clear 'Yes'. He even turned a little green, something Amanda hadn't seen in quite a while.

She chuckled. "Oh Sarek!", she exclaimed, "Everyone is afraid of something. I bet you know that." Out of the blue, Sarek suddenly began to babble, something very uncharacteristically for him. "I was a child, wandering the desert on my own. I… I did not pay attention. A le'matya stung me. I survived with the help of the antidote, but the poison's residue induced a two-week long period of nightmares. Before that point, I had never dreamt before, Amanda." "And yet you have grown up to be yourself." She came nearer, laid her arms around his neck and tiptoed. "Even if it came out that you are a giant pussy, I would love you anyways.", she whispered in his ear. Sarek now flushed completely green, but the cause stayed somewhat unclear.


	7. Family Convention

Epsilon Eridani was slowly lowering itself to the desert ground. It flushed the stones around the ancient halls of the House of Surak in a pink light. From the terrace spanning between two mountain peaks, one could see T'Khut, Vulcan's twin planet, rise high to the sky. Her skin was scattered by raging volcanoes, glowing red like fire. It was never completely dark on Vulcan's ground.

Michael was currently standing in a group of Vulcans she didn't know. Nobody was paying attention at her. They were too caught up in their own conversations. She had to admit that that was to be preferred to overly curious new family members. Especially annoying had been one of Sarek's cousins whose only reaction had been: "Another human?" Everybody was now persuaded that Sarek had most certainly turned up to be insane. The more racist of the family put the blame on constant contamination.

Qat linka or family convention was an annual occasion on which the whole family met. It was used to announce deaths, births and marriages, as well as minor bits of information about members of the family. It was somewhat astounding to Michael that so many counted as family. On Vulcan, there was the nearer family, like siblings, parents and children. This concept was understandable to Michael. But there was the greater family as well, which was cousins of cousins of parents of partners, a quite incomprehensible mess, even for Vulcans. To make the confusion complete, there were some honorable members without a connection in blood, such as Michael herself. Therefore, everyone referred to other members as S'linka if they were male, and T'linka if they were female. It was a logical solution.

"You must be Michael, if I am not mistaken?", somebody suddenly asked from behind her. Michael turned. There was a tall woman. She could not ignore that the woman somehow had the same looks as Sarek. On the other hand, most Vulcans had, at least from her perspective. The woman appeared to wait for an answer. "I am indeed Michael, T'linka." The woman smiled the Vulcan way. "My name is Telah. I am Sarek's older sister." That was new to Michael. She did not know that Sarek had any siblings. "It is agreeable to meet you.", she replied.

"May I inquire on something?", Telah asked. That didn't sound good. "Yes?", "Although I am the Vulcan Ambassador to Andoria, I have acquired some knowledge about Terran culture. I was led to believe that _Michael_ was a solely male prename. I assume I am wrong then?" That was a particularly observant question, Michael thought. "Originally, that was true, but nowadays the lines between what names are male and which are female is more and more blurred.", she answered. "I see. I thank you for the insight." Michael nodded once, as was seen appropriate when being thanked.

"I do hope that you find living in these environments not all too strenuous?", Telah asked next. "It sure is always hot. But that was to be expected.", Michael asked slightly amused. "You have not yet experienced a rainy season then?" That was something new. "A rainy season?", she asked astonished. "The time of the year when it rains quite heavily. I believed this kind of occurrence to be known on earth as well." "I do know what a rainy season is, but I didn't expect Vulcan to have one." "How did you believe our produce would grow?" "Well, you have those big watered plantations…" "This is true indeed."

Unexpectedly, somebody stopped next to them. It was Sarek. "Michael, it is time to go home. It is late already." It had indeed gotten quite dark. Only now he must have realized that he was standing right next to his sister. For a millisecond, he looked somewhat astonished. "May it be a pleasant evening, Telah. I was not aware of your presence." "Indeed?", she inquired, "I have written you a letter, telling about my coming." "I did not receive a letter from you." "Most curious."

Suddenly, Amanda was standing next to them, holding her sleeping son with one arm. The tiny hood of his cloak covered his head completely. Amanda seemed alarmed. "I can't find Sybok anywhere!", she managed to say silent enough as not to wake Spock. Sarek turned his attention to her, cutting his sister off. "Specify 'everywhere'.", he ordered. "Well, I looked for him on this terrace, then in the reception room, after that I went to the hallway, then to…" "Therefore, he must be in one of the unused corridors.", Sarek interrupted her. "I didn't look into those dark holes, that's true." "I shall search for him in those localities, then. I ask you to stay here with Spock and Michael." Without any other words or wasting time in some way, he turned and left the terrace in a bee line.

Telah, who had been silent as to this moment, spoke up again. "I offer you to hold your son, if you wish to accompany my brother.", she told Amanda. "You are Sarek's sister? I didn't know he had any siblings." "To be fair, I was not informed about your existence either, until I arrived this afternoon. I wanted to speak to my brother about this secretiveness, but my fellow clansmen all had more urgent business with him, it appears. "They just glanced at each other for a moment.

"Although it is under unexpected circumstances, it is agreeable to meet you. My name is Telah, and my current occupation are the diplomatic relations to the Andorian people.", Telah introduced herself. "I'm Amanda Grayson, and I'm teaching linguistic classes at the VSA. It is agreeable to meet you.", Amanda returned.

Telah's face lit up. "You are a scientist?" "A linguist, to be specific." "You did not appear to be especially intelligent beforehand, but now I might understand why my brother could be fond of you." Amanda became a little red, but Telah seemed to ignore this. "How long have you been married?", she asked curiously instead. Amanda looked down to her still sleeping toddler. "Long enough to have him. Also, we're technically not ma…" "Sarek has fathered this child?", Telah interrupted her, aghast. Amanda had now the color of cooked lobster. "Yeah?"

Michael had in the meantime wandered off, rather bored by the adult's dialog. She stood at the edge of the terrace and enjoyed T'Khut wander through the dark sky. "The watcher is very red tonight.", Sybok remarked. Michael turned in shock. "How long have you been standing behind me?", she asked, breathless. "Only a few seconds." "Where have you been? Sarek has gone searching for you" "This site provides architectural features from many epochs, and studying them proved to be more satisfying than to listen to the people's gossip about my father." "I see."

Somehow, Telah had gotten hold of Spock while Michael had watched the sky. His hood was down, as if Telah couldn't have believed that her nephew had pointy ears. He was in a half-awake state by now, as well as whimpering lowly. Sarek, who had magically reappeared, took him out of his sister's arms quite roughly. "He looks somewhat like you, brother.", she remarked, unshaken by Sarek's bad mood. "My congrats. Although I cannot determine your motivations…" Amanda was sure that he had never heard her husband tell somebody so vehemently to stop talking.

Deep in the night, when the children all had gone to or been placed in bed, Amanda sat down on the rim of Sarek's bed, who was preparing for his meditation. "You have been in quite a bad mood today, have you not?" "I presume it was obvious, then?" He sat on the rim as well. "This qat linka-thing, it's like being an exhibition article.", Amanda stated. With one finger, she traced her husband's ear, from the lobe to the point, knowing of the sensitivity of Vulcan ears. "And you do not like being exposed like that, do you?" "I should have done it like Sybok.", he answered, doing his Vulcan smile. Amanda snickered.


	8. Water

Telah had been right. It was raining. But not just a little. Raining was apparently a euphemism for flood, but from the sky. Michael couldn't believe her eyes. Differently to the time of the sandstorms, closed windows were the only security measure taken. Generally, everybody seemed to be oblivious to the upcoming Armageddon outside. People even went to school and to work as usual.

Michael was now standing in the hypertrain on the way home, next to Spock, both dripping wet. Since it only rained for a short time of the year, children did not own rain capes. That would have been a waste of resources. For once, it was not too hot for Michael's comfort. On the other hand, her now drying body was itching everywhere.

She was oddly glad as the hypertrain finally arrived at their destination. They hopped off and made their way for home. It was still raining. The street was not completely even, which had led to puddles everywhere. They walked around a few, not because they were afraid to get wet (they were wet anyway), but because the puddles were full of desert dust, making them muddy.

When they were almost at home, I-Chaya came running in their direction, as he often did. The sehlat saw no necessity to avoid the puddles. He ran straight through them and halted right in front of Spock. Since there was a particularly big mud hole in front of Spock, and due to the sudden deceleration of the animal, a wave of mud splashed over the boy.

Not only Spock was now covered in a reddish substance, I-Chaya didn't look any better. It was long since Michael had laughed so loud. Spock rubbed his face in the futile attempt to clean his eyes from dirt. As his hands were covered as well, it only became worse.

The three of them stood in the entrance hall, making the carpet wet as well as muddy. Amanda, who came around a corner, stood frozen for a few seconds. Her son, who normally didn't even like to play on the soil in the garden, was in a most unusual state of being mucky. "I believe you will need a bath, dear Spock.", she told him, smiling as if holding back a fit of laughter. The boy's eyes widened. "No!", he protested.

Spock, as a child and a Vulcan who did not have sweat glands, he only bathed a few times per year. He did not like being bathed, as he was always overcome with the illogical fear of drowning. Since Vulcan was completely free from rubber ducks and glitter foam, there was no way to redirect his attention.

Amanda let some water into the bathtub. When she had first been to Vulcan, she had found out that there were no other means to wash oneself than in a tub. Differently to the people of earth of the 23rd century, Vulcans spent almost no time washing themselves. It was a thing only done on an irregular basis, when one was soiled or observed that he or she slowly took on the smell of his or her surroundings. That usually happened every month or two. Since nobody was particularly fond of washing themselves, no inventions had been made other than to keep the water in a tub and scrub oneself with a paste of fine-grained desert sand and plant-based oil. There was no soap.

His mother had already freed Spock of his dirty clothes, he now wore something called a bathing shirt, a very strange concept to Amanda. But apparently, nobody on this planet bathed naked. It was a big, white T-shirt which reached to his knees (originally, it had been one of hers (normally sized, of course)), in which he would be bathed. When the tub was filled enough, she turned to her son to lift him up and into the water. There was only one problem: Spock was gone.

She ran down the corridor, came into the living room and stopped at the glass door which led to the garden. Michael was outside in the rain, she had volunteered to try to clean I-Chaya in a giant bucket. The sehlat seemed to be much cleaner already. Out of the blue, Sybok was standing next to her, holding a steaming bowl of water. "Good evening, Lady Amanda.", he said dutifully and tried to get around her and outside as well. "You are already at home?", she asked, somewhat surprised. He must have arrived while she had been preparing the bath. "Obviously.", he answered, accustomed to strange questions. "Have you seen Spock?", she asked as he was already half-outside. "I believe that I have seen him run in the cellar's direction. If I am not mistaken, he was wearing nothing but a bathing shirt."

Amanda sprinted again, eager to catch her son. She would not let the water become cold before it was used. Also, she was somewhat enraged that Spock would not cooperate in such a simple task like taking a bath. With her mind occupied and her legs giving her considerable speed, she crashed into something as she passed the entrance hall. She was thrown forward, fell, and landed on it. She took an audible breath in.

She saw a beige raincoat flicker before her eyes. Next, she heard an incredibly rapid heartbeat, as well as slow breathing. She was lifted up and set down on the floor. "Is this some kind of human ritual?", Sarek asked, inspecting the back of his head with one hand and simultaneously lifting one eye-brow. Amanda said nothing, still shocked to have run into her husband. Sarek, now persuaded that he hadn't suffered any bone damage, became aware of her silence. "Are you hurt?", he inquired somewhat concerned. Amanda shook her head. He helped her up and continued to open his raincoat. "Will you explain your unusual high velocity?", he asked as he hung the coat, so as it could dry. "Well, uhm, I was after Spock. I've apparently failed to see you." "Apparently."

"But why needs or son to be chased?", Sarek asked, now somewhat amused. "He must have fallen in the mud or something, therefore I was planning on bathing him, but he has run off." Just on the mentioning of a bath, Sarek's eyes narrowed. An aversion to baths ran in the family. "He is full of dirt! We need to catch him." Sarek sighed inwardly. It was a child, not a wild animal that could be hunted. But, on the other hand, they could not let him stay in an unpresentable manner. He went to the cellar with his wife.

Spock was quickly found, taken hold of by a surprise attack, and carried to the bathroom. Once in the hip-deep (when sitting) water, he fell into some kind of shock, which resulted in him not moving until he was pulled out of the water again. Amanda rubbed him dry and put him in clean clothes, which Sarek had brought her while she had been struggling to remove the dirt from their son's face.

Once freshly cleaned and reunited with his best furry friend (which was now sporting his original colors again) little Spock was ready or dinner. Amanda just hoped that he wouldn't get any plomeek soup in his face.


	9. Language Struggles

Michael tried to pronounce the word again, making her mouth hurt in the process. Why must the Vulcan language be so impossible to pronounce? And why could her little brother master Vulcan and Standard at half her age? It was frustrating. She threw her textbook on the low table next to her. It hit with a thud. She pouted. Not about something in particular, but just about the world in general.

As she was sitting there, caught up in her general misery, nobody entered. For once. This was surely rather odd. Normally, I-Chaya would somehow detect her distress and let her pet him. This, of course, was not entirely selfless. But now, there was no I-Chaya. In actuality, the house was completely silent. At this time of day, Spock would usually play, making at least faint noises in the process. Surely, he had gotten a little more silent since Sybok had smacked him a few weeks ago, but it was still audible.

What was going on? With her curiosity now sparked and her misery forgotten, she left her room. The door to Spock's was wide open. She glanced inside. Nobody was in there, but nothing seemed amiss either. Was he somewhere else in the house? Now challenged to find her little brother, she went down the stairs that let down to the living room. Halfway there, she heard Sarek speak.

"As I have told you before, the bishop may only move diagonally. Your last move is therefore invalid." What was going on? She climbed down a few more steps, so she could see properly. There was a chess game on the table, the classical eight-by-eight design. Spock sat on one side of the table, Sarek opposite to him. "You can move here, here or here. This pawn of yours obstructs the field; you cannot place your bishop there.", Sarek pointed to the positions he was talking about. Spock sighed in response, earning himself an admonishing eyebrow. "I do not think that I particularly enjoy this game, father.", Spock murmured. "I rest assured that you will find it stimulating after some exercise. We will proceed." While Spock placed his bishop, Sarek glanced up to her, still standing on the stairs. "Michael. I presume you would like to join?" Michael nodded happily, glad about some distraction. She sat next to Spock.

"Have you any experience with chess?", Sarek asked, as soon as she sat. "I think I know all the pieces… This is a pawn, that is a rook, this is the queen, the king, the bishops and this…", she paused for a second, her finger in mid-air, "…is a horse.", she finished. "A knight.", Sarek corrected her. "A knight.", Michael repeated. "Why can it not be a horse?", Spock asked, visibly puzzled. "I do not see a man in this depiction!" If Sarek hadn't been a Vulcan, he would have rolled his eyes. "That is how this piece is named. I did not decide on this.", he said even more calm than usual. "I do not know what a bishop is.", Michael stated. Sarek thought for a moment. "I believe a bishop to be a kind of religious leader, but they became uncommon after earth's third world war.", he finally said. "But why is this piece named like that? It has nothing to do with the game.", Michael asked agitatedly. "Yet again, I am not responsible for naming the pieces that take part in this game."

Sarek seemed eager to go on in his explanation, but his children wouldn't let him. "This", Spock pointed to the tower-shaped object, "does not look like a _ruk_." A Vulcan word, Michael thought. A kind of plant, a giant tree with thorns, to be exact. Studying had not been completely useless after all. Sarek breathed in deeply. "You are aware that this is a Terran game?", he asked, flabbergasted to some extent (although he did not show it). "Yes. You have told me so." "Indeed. As this game is many hundred years old, how would humans know about the _ruk_?" Spock thought hard. "I do not know.", he concluded. "Therefore, the word _rook_ must be a human one. Do you agree?" "Yes, father." "Well then, let us proceed."

For the next few minutes, Sarek explained while his children listened. After that, he sat himself on the end of the table, while his children sat vis-à-vis. He let them play against each other. Because they played for the first time, the game was boring to watch and took quite long. From time to time, Sarek commented on it and gave advise. Finally, Michael got hold of Spock's king. "Since you have won, you are required to say the word _checkmate_.", he explained. It only now dawned upon him that he had forgot to tell them about _check._ "Checkmate?", Spock asked. "What is the coherence between a checkered friend and this game?" For a short moment, Sarek wondered who had taught his son this kind of colloquial Standard. Most certainly his wife, he decided. "It is derived from an ancient word.", he deadpanned.

"What is this word?", Spock asked curiously. "I do not know the exact pronunciation. The meaning is: The king is beaten." Spock seemed to think about that for a while. "Why not simply say so? In addition, it is obvious when a game is lost. There is no need to comment on it." "It is needed to follow the correct course of the game." "But it makes no difference." Spock could simply not understand.

Sarek glanced at a digital clock on the wall. "I have urgent business to do.", he suddenly decided. "We will continue this at a later point in time." He left. Michael giggled silently, well aware of what had happened. Sarek, the great diplomat, had given up on disputing with his four-year-old son. It went completely over Spock's head, who asked her to play another round. She accepted.

They had decided to give the pieces new names. They kept the king, but changed the queen to the warrior, the rook was now a tower, the knight a horse and the bishop a high priest. The pawn, after a short discussion about what this word could mean, was named a foot soldier. Also, after one had won, he or she would say nothing.

When Michael had nearly fallen asleep that night in bed, her mind wandered through the day and she couldn't avoid to think that maybe Standard wasn't that easy after all.


	10. The Search for Spock

"Michael, do you want to play with me?", Spock asked while bursting into her room. Michael sighed. "I'm sorry. I've got to memorize quite a few new words by tomorrow. I don't have time.", she answered in Vulcan, proud of being able to do so. Spock nodded sadly and toddled out of the room.

"Sybok, do you want to play with me?", Spock asked while bursting into the library. Sybok lifted his head from the book he was reading and gave him a critical look. "I am occupied. As you can see." Spock promptly sat himself next to his brother and tried to read in the book as well. This, of course, led to Sybok not being able to see anything but Spock's head. "Four-dimensional geometry!", Spock remarked enthusiastically. "Indeed." Spock tried to turn a page Sybok was holding tightly, almost ripping it in the process. Sybok was utterly annoyed.

"Would you mind letting me alone?", Sybok inquired. Spock nodded. As he stood up, he tripped over a staple of books which Sybok needed for his homework. It fell over, books flying, pages crumpling. It took Sybok quite a lot of effort to stay calm. At least, Spock helped him to minimize the damage and to rebuilt the staple.

"Maybe we should indeed play a game.", Sybok proposed, to Spock's pleasure. "What kind of game are you thinking of?", Spock asked excitingly. "A Terran game. I believe it is called hide and seek." "I know that one!", Spock announced. "You will be the first to hide, then." Spock was at the door in seconds. He realized that Sybok was watching him. "Do not look. It is against the rules." Sybok sighed and covered his eyes with his hands. "I will not look." "Good." Spock left. Sybok returned to studying his book.

Spock knew that there were many dark spots and closets in which one could hide himself efficiently. Maybe he should go to the basement? He decided to indeed do so.

There were not many rooms in the cellar. One was used as some kind of gym, one was just bare and cold, a third was an air raid shelter, a relict from former times and evidence of the house's age. There was a fourth room as well, where currently unused things were stored. The room had a big closet which was used to store raincoats, old-style pictures and some of Amanda's winter clothes. Spock opened the door, almost tipping over a ladder which was leaned against the wall. One shelf, the one on the ground, was empty. He pressed himself in the space and let the door slam. Maybe from the impulse, maybe from the breeze or maybe it was just misfortune: The ladder left the wall and fell, getting caught by the closet's door handle, making it impossible to open the door from the inside.

As soon as Spock realized what had happened, he tried to open the door by kicking it, but it was futile. He was too weak to induce anything. He relaxed and hoped that Sybok would find him soon.

Sometime later, it was time for dinner. The children came down the stairs into the kitchen, even I-Chaya toddled inside, asking to be fed. Sarek was surprised. Normally it would be Spock's duty to feed him, placing the bowl on the floor in the hallway, as he usually did without fault. As he was just about to reprimand his son for forgetting about the sehlat, he remarked that he was missing. Both Michael and Sybok looked at him quizzically. Amanda was too concerned with patting the pet to be aware of anything else. "What is it?", Michael asked. "I am curious as of Spock's current location. Have you seen him?", he asked Michael. "About two hours ago, we had a short conversation. I haven't seen him since." Sarek nodded. "And you, Sybok?", he inquired next. "I believe he might be hiding somewhere." Sarek lifted an eyebrow. "What makes you come to this conclusion?" This was an uncomfortable question. "I told him to do so."

They searched everywhere. First in the children's rooms, then on the ground floor. "He must be somewhere!", Amanda exclaimed, after closing yet another empty closet. "Indeed. Maybe he is to be found in the basement?", Sarek proposed, somewhat irritated himself. On the way to cellar they passed Michael, who had taken on the duty of feeding I-Chaya, and Sybok, who still sat where Sarek had told him to stay and think of a good explanation of what he had done.

The cellar was searched in no time. There was really almost nowhere where a four-year-old could hide. Only the closet remained. When they reached it, it was clear why they hadn't reappeared after some time. The ladder was still hanging from the door handle. Sarek lifted the ladder up and leaned it to wall in some distance. Meanwhile, Amanda had already opened the door and pulled her son out.

Spock was shaking and holding on to his mother in a rather uncharacteristically way. She simply held him for a few moments and wiped some dust out of his hair.

He did not eat dinner this day, or let go of his mother. It was only after he had fallen asleep that Amanda could set him down in his bed.

After this incident, it took Spock quite a lot time until he was himself again. He missed a whole week of school, simply because he was still so traumatized that he could not speak for three days. Both parents decided that it was not responsible to send him to school in his state of mind. Even after he called I-Chaya again to his dinner, they let him stay for another four days. After this time, he was eager to return to normalcy, and asked again and again to be send to school, to which his parents finally agreed.

Spock found that his father must have told the school that he had a mild infection, since nobody laughed about him for locking himself into a closet. It was that same day that he decided to never talk to Sybok again. He stayed true to this for the next forty years.


	11. Spaceport

The spaceport of Shi'Kahr was the biggest of all of Vulcan and positioned on the outskirts of the city. It spanned all the way from the base of the L-lagoons to the edge of the Southern Desert. It was gigantic to anyone, but especially to every four-year-old ever in existence. Spock stood as close to the room-high window as possible without physically pressing his face to it.

He watched a smallish green shuttle leave the ground and climb to the sky where it would eventually arrive at a bigger transport ship. The shuttles, merchant cruisers and private space yachts came from all corners of federation space. Spock could spot some marked in Vulcan, Terran and Andorian script, as well as the occasional Tellarite transport vessel. It was a colorful assortment of almost antique and fresh out of the factory vehicles, including everything in between. It would have been painfully loud if it weren't for the well-engineered windows of the visitor's lounge.

As many ships as Spock saw, there was not even a glimpse of the one they had come for. The shuttle which belonged to the ambassadorial space cruiser was silvery and rather elegantly shaped. It was supposed to transport his father along other diplomatic personnel. Exhausted from trying to comprehend the port's size and annoyed of waiting, he turned to his family again. They were equally bored respectively showed ostentatiously neutral expressions.

Amanda decided that she needed to do something to distract her children. She clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Let's have a look at what else we can see here.", she decided. Michael, who was more interested in alien species than their ships, was enthusiastic. Spock didn't mind and Sybok simply hoped that nobody he knew would see him with two Humans.

They left the visitor's lounge which was the negative of crowded and entered a corridor which was the positive of crowded.

Many of the people in the crowd were travellers and merchants who let their baggage respectively their wares be carried by automated platforms rolling silently behind them. Although they had an inbuilt system insuring that nobody would be hit by a platform, their sensors were often overwhelmed by too many obstacles and accident were sometimes unavoidable.

Spock was especially prone to this incidents due to his size. Once a platform carrying Tellarite cloth came speeding towards him. It was obviously rigged. He could only save himself by holding to the rail that was screwed to the wall and lifting himself up. His "If lost, please call:"-badge hit him in the face. Amanda gave the merchant a dirty look which he seemingly ignored.

Aimlessly, they left the main corridor and entered a less crowded area. There were none the less some people who were talking to each other and stocking shuttles which could be entered via airlocks. All of the Humans and the very occasional people of different worlds wore the same outfit, varying only in the blue, red and yellow accents. Spock had neither seen such, and was quite amused by it. "Starfleet", Michael murmured. "But why are they all wearing the same?", Spock asked incredulously. "It is called an uniform.", Amanda entered the conversation with. "What are they doing, Mother?", Spock asked while looking up to her. "Packing equitment, I suppose.", she answered. "I can see that. I was wondering what they need the equitment for."

Amanda understood the problem now. Had both she and Sarek missed out on telling him of Starfleet? How strange! "They travel the universe in order to study it. New planets, new lifeforms, that kind of things." Spock's eyes were positively glowing at that point. "Indeed?", he asked in that one way that made Sybok let himself fall behind the group by a few meters. "Yes.", Michael said, an equal gleaming to her eyes.

A woman with yellow details on her uniform shot them a knowing glance and gave a tiny smile. Spock stared back blankly which made her look away a little scared.

At that point, Amanda's personal transmitter chirped and she took it out of her pocket. "Sarek has arrived." , she remarked.

They turned back to the main corridor. It only took them a few minutes and almost-accidents to get to corridor 43. A conveyor belt carried them from there on. Automated platforms were not allowed in this part of the spaceport, they had to drive a level under the pedestrian's belt. After standing on three different belts, they arrived at a group of diplomats.

Sarek stepped out of the crowd and stood by his family. "Tonk'peh.", he said to them. "Hello darling.", Amanda answered like she hadn't seen him in years. It had in fact not been more than a week. Sarek did this thing were he seemed to smile without actually doing so.

The moment was over when Spock yawned silently. Sarek looked down at him. "It is rather late.", he remarked.

This was how it came that Sybok carried his father's bag, Sarek carried Spock and Michael used the time to ask Amanda more questions about Starfleet. Sarek glimpsed over a few times, but didn't say anything.

After dinner, Amanda and Sarek sat together in Sarek's office. "Why do the children suddenly show such a remarkable interest in Starfleet? As I put a blanket over Spock, he asked me what I think about this organization." Amanda huddled closer to him before answering. "We have seen some Starfleet officers at the spaceport. They must have made an impression on them. What did you answer?" "I told him that it was commendable to risk one's life in the name of science." "Now he surely wants to join them.", Amanda said with a smile. "Indeed, but I do not particularly enjoy this idea.", Sarek uttered sternly before laying an arm around his mate.


	12. Rock-Paper-Scissors

Michael, Spock and I-Chaya were playing outside, a few hundred meters away from their home. Epsilon Eridani currently lowered itself to the horizon. In one or two Vulcan hours, it would disappear under the L-lagons. At the moment, the children didn't care about that. They had found some multi-legged and violet-colored creatures underneath a rock and were now studying them intently. The region was only a half-desert, meaning that there were some shrubs and small trees here and there. The sand had an ocher shade.

I-Chaya was lying on his back and warming his belly in the evening light. Although relaxed, the trusted pet would react immediately if something dangerous appeared. His tiny ears twitched every other moment, indicating his attention. Once, something rustled inside a mbelé shrub, but it was only a k'nurt, a fluffy, sand-colored little creature which did not pose a thread. It was actually rather delicious, at least for a sehlat. The pet contemplated to hunt it for a few moments, but decided against. He was momentarily too comfortable too move. I-Chaya rolled himself in the sand, making purring noises.

"I think we should go back home.", Michael said, watching her brother let a ten-legged creature walk on his arm. At first, he didn't indicate that he had heard her. Michael almost asked again, as he finally answered. "I do not want to.", he simply said, which was his own way of whining. "Look, Spock, the sun is almost down. You know how dangerous it is to be out here in the dark." Spock knew. But his mind was more occupied with his new-found field of study, namely the insectoids of the L-lagons, than with a possible death by le'matya bite.

Michael sighed. She had promised Amanda to be back before it became dark and had to reassure her of this promise three times. She knew that if she failed to do so, they wouldn't be let outside unsupervised for a long time. She tried a new strategy. "Amanda will not be happy if we do not go home now." "An emotional reaction to such an event would be illogical." This was Spock's new favorite sentence, and he would utter it as often as he deemed fitting. In a household with two humans, it was often fitting. Every time he used it, it made her strangely angry. She was unsure as to why, as it was a perfectly good thing to say for a Vulcan.

Michael gave up for the moment. Spock would eventually tire and demand to go home. She turned to I-Chaya instead. On some ways, sehlats were exactly like Terran dogs. For example, both liked to catch sticks thrown for them. Michael picked up a dry piece of wood and called I-Chaya who came running, excited. She threw the stick, and I-Chaya chased after it, catching it while it was still in the air. He proudly brought it back and dropped it in front of her, asking her to throw again. Of course, she did. And again. And another time. After doing this for the twelfth time, I-Chaya had enough. He sat down and chewed on the piece of wood, which was yet another similarity to a Terran dog.

The sun had sunken quite a bit by now. Michael decided to try it again. "We will play a game. A Terran game. If I win, we will go home." Now, she had her brother's interest. "Please specify on the game.", he urged. "It is called rock-paper-scissors. Very simple. There are three figures you can do: Rock, paper and scissors." She simultaneously showed him the correct hand movements. "Like in the game's name?", Spock interrupted her. "Of course. The rock beats the scissors, the paper beats the rock and the scissors beat the paper. We will do one of these three at the same time and whoever has chosen the one that beats the other wins." Spock nodded. It was really simple.

Michael counted to three, and chose paper. Spock stared at her, as he had not understood that the game had already begun. "You need to do something as well.", Michael reminded him. Spock thought for a moment, then chose rock. "Now, I have won. Paper beats rock." "This seems unlikely, as the paper would tear if it was to be used against a rock like this." Spock pointed at one of the rocks on the ground. Michael had never thought of that before. "Maybe, but this is not the point of the game. Paper beats rock. These are the rules." "It is not a well-thought-out game, then." Michael tried to ignore him. "Next round counts.", she told him, before counting to three again.

This time, Spock reacted immediately. Michael saw that he would choose scissors, and made a fist herself. She smiled, her happiness caused by having won. "Time to go home, Spock.", she announced. Spock nodded in defeat.

They called I-Chaya, who jumped to his feet, shook himself to free his fur from the sand and trotted to them, leaving his stick behind. It was obvious that the pet did not want to go home either. They followed the official hiking path back to where it made a bend and climbed over some boulders to get into the valley the house had been built in. When they had jumped off the last foundling, they could already see Sarek who was standing at the garden gate and watching them. "It is almost dark.", he remarked. "You know how dangerous it is to be outside at such a time.", he reminded while closing the gate behind them. Both children nodded to avert another lecture on the subject. "I do not understand why you do not do as you are instructed, then." "The bugs…", Michael murmured a little bashful. Sarek raised an eyebrow. "Specimen of the f'dula family had caught my interest.", Spock explained. Sarek accepted that as an answer. "End meal is ready. Your brother is already waiting.", he said.

The children were already in their beds, and Amanda was typing something work-related on her console. Sarek stood at the window in her room and watched the stars. "May I ask you something?", he suddenly said. "Certainly.", Amanda returned without looking up form her file. "What is this game called 'Rock-Paper-Scissors'?" For the next minute, Amanda tried not to laugh too loud.

 _While doing my research, I found that there is actually a variation on this game that includes a "Spock" figure. This one is disproven by the paper and disintegrates the rock. Thanks for reading this far, by the way!_


	13. How He Met Your Mother

Sarek as well as Amanda had been invited to a dinner in honor of the Tellarite Ambassador to Vulcan who was going to be replaced by next week. It was not an invitation one could decline without causing a diplomatic incident. Therefore, they had to go.

They both found it unlikely that they could leave Sybok in charge of the smaller children without trouble. This was the reason why they were going to leave Soran with them. Spock had never before met the man who was now standing in front of him. He was somewhat smaller than his father and looked about half his age. He seemed to be compassionate, with curious eyes and soft skin around them, at least for a Vulcan. Spock immediately decided that he liked him, although he had not even said a word. This was to change soon.

"Spock, this is Soran.", Sarek told his son. "Tonk-peh, Soran.", Spock said dutifully, his hand forming a 'V'. "Tonk-peh, Spock.", Soran replied, looking down to him. "Soran will watch you while we are gone. I ask you to behave well.", Sarek said slowly, in hope that his son would really do as told. Spock nodded. Sarek went off to do something elsewhere.

Michael was just stepping down the last step that led to the living room. "Good evening, Michael.", Soran wished her in Standard. "Have we met before?", the somewhat astonished girl asked. "We have not.", Soran stated, "But I have deducted that you must be her, as I find it unlikely that there could be another human girl in this house." It made perfectly sense, Michael had to agree on that. "And who are you?", she asked after a while. "My name is Soran. Sarek has appointed me to watch over the three of you tonight."

It was now that Sarek reentered the living room, Amanda by his side. They had both changed into something more fitting to their positions than they usually wore. It was an unusual sight, to say the least. "We will go now. There is dinner in the oven. For you as well, Soran.", Amanda told them while straightening her _kal'afi_ , a traditional Vulcan head dress which was formed like a hand fan. It made her look like a true Vulcan lady (although one could not deny that there were some similarities to Tudor fashion as well).

With their parents gone, the children stared more openly and more curiously at Soran than before. He started to become almost uneasy. "Would you like to play a game?", he asked to break the silence. Both children nodded in anticipation. "I happen to bring a game, actually.", Soran told them as he took a colorful package out of a pocket of his tunica. "Maybe Sybok would like to play as well?", he asked, unsure if the aforementioned was even at home. "I don't think so.", Michael said. "Lately, he says games would be illogical and a waste of time.", she added. "A shame. We will proceed without him then."

They sat around the dinner table and Soran explained the rules of _Uno_. It was a game so coolly logical that neither found something to question (in truth, Spock had a similar complaint to when he learnt about _checkmate_ , but his father had told him to be polite, therefore he said nothing).

They had already played a round when Michael finally asked the question that was on her mind. "This is a Terran game, isn't it?" "Indeed. And a rather old one at that." "How did you acquire it?", Spock asked, being curious as always. "I have bought it as a part of a social study I performed while working at the embassy on earth." "You worked with Sarek?", Michael asked. "I did. I was the embassy's chief of staff." The children exchanged a glance. "You know how they met?", Michael inquired hopefully. "Are you speaking of the _kevet-dutar_ and _T'Sai_ Amanda?" "Who else could Michael be speaking of?" Spock was almost annoyed. "In this case, the answer is yes." "Will you tell us the story?", Spock pleaded. Soran thought for a moment if he should do so. It was not like he knew any lewd details. Neither Sarek nor Amanda would have a reason to prohibit him to tell their story. Later, he decided. "I will do so after end meal.", he told the children.

I-Chaya entered through the door that led to the garden and asked for food. Spock immediately went to fill his bowl, but when he had finished his duty, there was no I-Chaya. It turned out that the pet was still in the living room, and was being fondled by Soran. Spock's fluffy friend was visibly enjoying himself. Spock was flabbergasted. "Normally, I-Chaya does not let himself be touched by strangers.", he remarked. "Me and I-Chaya have met before.", Soran simply said. "He accompanied Sarek on earth.", he added after another big stroke over the pet's fur.

In the end, Soran let go of I-Chaya who trotted to his bowl. Michael talked Sybok into coming down to eat with them while Soran took the baked _j'mbale_ out of the oven. They ate in silence, but it was obvious that the two younger children were eager to hear the rest of the story. After the meal, Sybok excused himself, as he had, according to him, still something to do for school. He glanced deprecatingly at Spock once, before climbing the stairs.

Soran and his two eager listeners settled on the sofa in the living room. I-Chaya laid to his feet. Soran looked down to him for a moment. "I-Chaya played quite a big role in the story I am going to tell.", he remarked, almost absentmindedly. He looked at the children and began to speak.

"The story begins on an afternoon in San Francisco. I will relay the story to you as I was told by both the _kevet-dutar_ and Miss Grayson. As it was a rather warm day, Sarek decided to take his sehlat to the park that is near to the embassy. He had taken a toy for I-Chaya, a so called 'frisbee', with him. Apparently, once arrived at the park, he proceeded to throw the frisbee so as I-Chaya would run and catch it while it was still flying." "He is really good at playing catch.", Michael interrupted. "Indeed. I would even go as far as claiming that I-Chaya is better at catching than Sarek is at throwing. The day that I am speaking of, his frisbee hit neither the grass nor I-Chaya's mouth, but a female who was intently studying a piece of literature. The _kevet-dutar_ would claim that she stepped in the way, unaware of her surroundings, after he had already thrown the frisbee, but Miss Amanda has assured me that the sehlat had been in a different direction entirely, and that Sarek had simply let go too late." After this run-on sentence, Soran made a short pause to catch his breath.

"Nevertheless, it resulted in Miss Grayson falling to the floor. Certainly, Sarek was concerned that he had hurt another being, but providentially, she was unharmed. After this, they somehow begun a conversation, but I was not informed on the subject." Spock as well as Michael looked at him with big eyes. "And this is all that they needed to start dating?", Michael asked. Soran had a second to remember what 'dating' meant. He shook his head slightly. "No. The _kevet-dutar_ did not even inform me of this incidence until later. After this coincidentally meeting, they both went their ways." The children seemed confused. Soran explained. "It took them a second chance meeting. A few weeks later, Sarek has been invited to visit a school on the outskirts of San Francisco. While visiting, he was irritated by several children who, according to him, loudly demanded to well … touch his ears." The children seemed embarrassed. "Understandably, the _kevet-dutar_ solved this problem by entering a random room inside the school's facilities. This room turned out to be reserved for teachers of the language department. There he met Miss Grayson, who was teaching several languages. After his own account, he immediately recognized her as the lady from the park." The children seemed excited. "They initiated a longer conversation at this date, which allowed Sarek to learn of her degree in linguistics." Soran made a theatrical pause.

"The next day, Sarek wrote a letter in which he offered an occupation at the Universal Translator Project to her. It happened that the section which was responsible for translating Vulcan into Standard was in need of another scientific aid. She assumed that position. As this made it necessary that Miss Grayson worked inside the embassy building, they came to know each other quite efficiently." "Is **this** all?", Michael wanted to know. "It is.", Soran confirmed. He stood up, after he had glanced at the clock in the wall. "You will go to bed now.", he decided. Both children nodded, Spock while yawning for the third time in the last five minutes. "It was a nice story. Thank you, Soran.", Michael remarked before climbing the stairs.

Much later, Soran had already dozed away on the sofa, Sarek and Amanda returned home. After a short debate, they decided to leave Soran where he was. As Sarek stowed away his outfit, neatly putting it on a hanger, his gaze landed on the red, round and bite-marked disc which he stored on the dresser's floor board, because it was a rather illogical piece to keep. He half-smiled.

 _Translations:_

 _Tonk'peh = Be greeted!_

 _T'Sai = lady_

 _kevet-dutar = ambassador_

 _A big thank you to the inventor of Soran, whoever this might be._


	14. Calligraphy

Michael was sitting on the floor in her room, reading a piece of simple Vulcan literature. Somebody knocked on the door. "Michael.", Spock said, "Father wants to introduce us to calligraphy. Do you want to join?" Although Michael knew precisely how awful her writing looked, she was quite interested in the subject. She had to admit that this had something to do with not being able to imagine Sarek as being artistically inclined. She closed the book, which was bound in a particular way, at least from a Human point of view. It had similarities to a calendar, with the bounded edge as the upside of the work and not as one of the sides. She left the book on her table.

Spock led her to Sarek's office down the hallway. When they entered, Sarek had already stowed away all of his important paperwork and covered the table with a thin and washable cloth. It gave the room an aura it seldom had. He acknowledged their presence. "Please sit.", he ordered them while pointing to two chairs he had brought to his office for this particular purpose.

After they had sat down, Sarek opened a medium sized box that sat on the ground. From it, he took some greyish but soft paper, Vulcan made, Michael guessed, black ink in an inkpot, and some writing utensils made from thin metal sheets.

"Calligraphy is one of the six classic arts, together with weaving, pottery, blacksmithing, painting and sculpting.", Sarek begun. "It is the most inconspicuous of them all, but the one I am most proficient in. I have to warn you: It requires a lot of exercise to achieve a satisfactory result. We will begin with something simple." He walked to the bookshelf at the wall and took a physical folder from it. He let it drop to the table and opened it. The folder was filled with grey papers of all sizes and shapes and well-formed script on them. They appeared to be his works. After a short search, Sarek found what he had searched for.

It was indeed a simple design, containing only four letters. The _Itar_ was strangely curved, the _DzHarel_ was sloping in the opposite direction of the _Yen_ and the two _AsAl_ laid parallel to each other and were significantly smaller than the rest of the letters. The semi-curve of the 'Yen' was elongated and gave the image its contours. Both children marveled at it. "I have finished this piece about twenty years ago. Can you read what is written?", Sarek asked. It took Michael a few seconds to understand. "It says I-Chaya!", the girl remarked, excited. "And the whole word is shaped like a Sehlat.", Spock added. "You have understood the concept. I think it the best if you start by copying this."

Sarek proceeded by explaining how the writing quills were to be used and to be careful with the ink. He proceeded by telling them that the ink was made from the oil of the _la'ach_ tree as well as from its burned wood. "It is an extremely ancient technique for producing ink. Archeologist have found remains of this mixture which are approximately twenty thousand years of age." He stopped his impromptu lecture at this point, as he noticed that his children weren't very keen on it. "I advise you to start with the _Itar_."

Spock soon realized that the art of calligraphy wasn't as easy as it had seemed. His _Itar_ was by no means an elegant stroke, it looked more like an awkward wriggle. The other letters weren't any better. He glanced over to Michael only to be relieved that she wasn't much better at it. "You are both applying too much pressure to the pen. Let it float over the paper.", Sarek advised them. He took the quill out of Spock's hand and made a beautiful _AsAl_. The pen didn't even make a sound on the paper. "You will not succeed if you are too eager. Calligraphy not only teaches you to write in well-formed letters, but to be patient as well." Wordlessly, he gave both of them a fresh sheet of paper.

They spend the whole afternoon trying to copy their pet's name. Sarek watched them and gave occasional advice. The longer they did it, they more enjoyable it got. They only stopped after their hands began to hurt. "I think it is enough for today.", Sarek stated, quirking an amused eyebrow at his son who was trying to get the feeling back into his hand.

They moved to the living room, where Sarek had promised them a surprise. He left the children on the sofa and made his way to the kitchen. The children waited for him in silence. Amanda was currently teaching at the Academy and Sybok was on a school excursion to the temples of Gol, which left the house strangely empty. I-Chaya eventually let himself in, coming from the garden. The animal flung itself down in front of the couch and demanded to be petted.

Sarek returned with a tray, transporting three glasses on it. He gave one to each child and took one for himself. Michael looked at the content quizzically. The yellowish liquid was strangely familiar to her. Spock was rather cautious as well, which was telling her that it couldn't be a Vulcan drink. "Try it.", Sarek encouraged them. "It is harmless.", he added, not without some humor. As if to show them he took a sip himself. Michael decided to do so as well. "It is lemonade!", he exclaimed, astonished. "Indeed.", Sarek remarked. "Amanda has ordered some from earth. It arrived just yesterday." Spock had now taken a sample as well. He didn't seem too happy. "Don't you like it?", Michael asked incredulously. "No. It is too sour." This of course served as entertainment for the other two.

They drank their lemonade (or had decided not to) in silence, at least until I-Chaya made a tiny huffing sound which was characteristically for him when asleep. "Sarek, how old is I-Chaya?", Michael asked. Sarek looked down to the ball of fluff before answering. "Twenty-four years. He was a cub when he first came in my care. Back then, he could sit on my lap, can you imagine that?" "How does one acquire a Sehlat, Father?", Spock now asked. "Normally, you go to a breeder, choose the cub you want and pay the breeder as to acknowledge his work. But I-Chaya and his siblings were found abandoned in the streets. It happened that they were found by a friend of my sister, you have met her. At this time, I was not planning to adopt a pet, but after I was shown the little cubs, I found it only logical to take care of one. My sister has adopted one as well." "So, a similar story to mine?", Michael asked, between happy and sad. "If you will. I seem to be inclined to adopt lost souls on first sight." This made Michael strangely happy. She realized that she was not alone.

 _If you have troubles imagining the sehlat made out of letters, look up "Arabic calligraphy" on google image search._


	15. Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Spock, Michael and Sybok were currently waiting to be picked up at the hypertrain station. On Earth, it wouldn't have been possible for three children to travel without parental supervision. On Vulcan however, this was fairly normal. There even was a seperated section on the train that was reserved for children. There would always be someone to attend to them in case of an emergency.

They had left the hypertrain at their destination, Izhau'Kahr. Now, they were standing in the big entrance hall, near the exit, holding their baggages. Sybok seemed to be exhausted from constantly keeping the smaller children reasonably silent. He was also annoyed from their illogical questions about the landscape. "Sybok, why are these mountains so high?" "Sybok, how big is this lake?" "Sybok, is this a real forest?" He hoped that their constant questioning would be directed at their aunt Telah, once she arrived.

They did not have to wait long. A tall figure stopped in front of them and pulled her hood down. "I presume you have brought your warm clothes?", she asked them without pretext. "We have.", Spock affirmed. "Come. I have parked outside."

They followed her, going through the giant portals that led outside. It was indeed freezing. "Over there.", Telah pointed, taking Spock's bag in her own hands.

A few minutes later, the children as well as their luggage were secured and Telah moved the aircar out of the parking lot. "I live on the outskirts of Izhau'Kahr. It will take about half an hour to get there." Telah proceeded to ask them about their journey and about their accomplishments in school. The talk lost some of its energy when Spock realized that strange white pieces were falling from the sky. He inquired about them. Michael snickered. "That's snow!" "Snow?", Spock asked, unbelieving. "Indeed.", Telah assured. "After returning to Vulcan from my assignment on Andoria, I could no longer stand the heat of Shi'Kahr. This is why we are here, near our planets southern pole." "Surely a unique choice.", Sybok said, warily watching the outside from his front seat.

Some time later, the aircar pulled into Telah's driveway. "We have arrived.", she remarked. They were left the vehicle, only to be amazed by the mansion Telah called home. "Real estate is remarkably cheap in this region.", she explained.

The inside wasn't any less impressive. The big window in the living room let them oversee a dark forest which was covered in snow. "Would you like to go outside?", Telah asked, seeing that all three of them were standing in front of the glass and looking at the forest. Michael and Spock nodded enthusiasticly, while Sybok seemed a little reluctant. "Your father told me to let you outside only under the condition that you wear your gloves, hats and scarves."

Sybok had selected to stay inside and was now sitting in front of the big window and next to Telah. She had made some tea. They were talking about different family members and the newest political scandals. After a while, he began to talk about how his two siblings influenced his life. It felt good to have somebody who would listen to him who was for once not his father.

One level under them, Spock and Michael were by now inspecting the snow.

Little Spock prodded the white ground with the tip of one of his boots. The mass made a sound unknown to him. He kneeled down and stubbed the snow, still wearing his gloves. Even now he could feel the cold slipping through them. When he was about to take of his right glove, something hit him on his back. When he turned, startled as he was, he could see nothing but his sister, forming snow to a ball using her hands. As he was still wondering about what she was doing, another ball hit him, this time from the front.

"Why are you doing this?", he asked, confused and angered at the same time. "It's fun!", his sister replied cheery. "Indeed?" Spock was not convinced. "Try it if you don't believe me.", Michael ordered. Still full of doubt, Spock grabbed some snow and rolled it in a ball, like Michael did. "Now throw it at me.", Michael said. Spock did. He hit her at her shoulder. The ball crumbled and the pieces fell to the floor. As expected. "This is not 'funny'.", Spock remarked.

"Let's built a snowman, then.", Michael suggested. This spiked her brother's interest. "Is a snowman a sculpture made out of snow?", Spock inquired. "You get it. Do you want me to show how?", she asked. Spock thought for a moment. "Are we required to construct a statue of a man?", he finally asked. Michael chuckled. "Of course not. What would you like to form instead?" "A Sehlat."

Some time later, they had cold fingers, but were proudly looking upon their work. The head might have been a little crooked, and they had to improvise with the tail, but it was clearly identifiable as a Sehlat.

They found some little stones to use as eyes, but Spock was struggling with placing them because his hands trembled so much. "Let us go inside.", Michael decided, being aware of this. Her brother only nodded.

Telah was already cooking more tea when they entered. She half-smiled, suddenly resembling Sarek profusely, when seeing that the tips of their ears had gone all green, respectively red. Sybok walked into the entrance hall, looking a little appalled at how wet and cold they were, but said nothing. "You have missed something. We had lots of fun.", Michael told him. "Hardly believable.", Sybok deadpanned, before leaving again for the slightly warmer living room.

Izhau'Kahr = Snowcity


	16. A Trip To The City

Somebody knocked on the door and Spock closed his book, expecting Michael to enter, as they had planned to play chess. It wasn't Michael. Instead, it was his father. He looked a little fed up. Was that about him? Spock quickly thought of anything he had done today that could justify a reprimanding. He couldn't think of anything.

"Do you have any incense left?", his father surprisingly asked. Spock, knowing well that he had depleted the little box which had held his share, shook his head. "I understand.", Sarek said. There was a short pause in which Sarek showed a faintly angry expression. "Father, I have used the incense very sparsely, I assure you.", Spock quickly said, in hope to sooth his father. Sarek, who had until this point stared out the window, looked down to him. "I do not accuse you of anything. It is in fact me who has miscalculated my use of incense. I was hoping that you might been more prudent than me and that I could use some of yours." That made sense.

Just in that moment, Michael finally entered, holding a set of chess figures. She glanced back and forth between the two, before sporting a quizzical expression. "Michael, Spock, would you like to accompany me to the city to buy new incense?", Sarek asked.

Of course, they wanted. They had never before been to a store that sold incense, as Sarek would normally buy it after work. As it was, the building which held the Bureau of Interplanetary affairs and which posed as Sarek's workplace had been found lacking in stability. The pre-reformatory building had been closed for use until the stability was restored. Although this happened with the usual Vulcan efficiency, the works would still take about a Vulcan month to finish. This led to Sarek working at home everyday and being in a bad mood, as he felt somewhat incarcerated (although he would not say so if asked directly).

None of them bothered to ask Sybok if he wanted to join, as he would surely decline. As they neared Amanda's office in order to tell her that they would be gone for a while, they could hear her speak in Andorian. Through the half-opened door, they could see her, resident Sehlat at her feet, talking to a blue skinned colleague of hers. The children couldn't understand what was said, but Sarek slipped through the door silently and wrote something on a small whiteboard she used for notes. Amanda looked at it and made the thumbs-up-sign, all while nodding at what her colleague was now saying.

"Why did you not simply wait until mother had ended her call?", Spock asked his father while the hypertrain brought them to the city. "I heard her compare an Andorian fable to one of earth, in order give an example for her Theory of Consistent Archetypes. The Andorian linguist did strongly disagree. I presumed it would be sensible to write a note as opposed to waiting, as such disputes can take up quite a lot of time."

"You speak Andorian?", Michael chimed in. "Hardly any. But I am capable of understanding most." "How does this work? You need to know the words to understand, and when you know the words, you can speak the language." "A logical conclusion, however faulty. The Andorian and the Vulcan tongue are shaped differently, so much in fact, that it would take decades of training until a Vulcan could speak Andorian like a native. I was never required to speak a sufficient amount of Andorian to validate such a training." "But mother…", Spock interjected. "The Human tongue does not differ so greatly from the Andorian's. It is significantly easier for a Human to learn the Andorian language, especially if one is as talented with foreign languages like your mother."

They exited the hypertrain at the station that was located in the old part of Shi'Kahr. "We will go to the shop I prefer.", Sarek decided. He strode away, his children almost running after him. It took him a few seconds until he realized that his children were far behind him. He stopped and waited for them to catch up. "I sometimes forget that my usual pace can be a little fast for smaller people.", he remarked slightly amused.

The old market was a labyrinth of little shops and stands which sold everything from mid-meals and snacks to clothing and products from other federation planets. At this time of day, namely the late afternoon, the market was relatively empty. It would fill later, when the sun was down.

Sarek led them to a little shop that was built from stone and a red banner informing everyone that meditation material was to be found here.

A little bell sounded when Sarek pushed the door open. The inside was darker and cooler than the outside. It smelled like oiled wood, incense and lamp oil. It made Michael think of a fairy tale. "Do not touch anything.", Sarek hushed to them as the vendor moved in their direction. She was a dignified woman with a three-digit age. She shortly glanced at the two children before turning to Sarek.

"How may I assist you?", she asked in Vulcan. "I came here to buy incense.", Sarek replied. "Ah. The usual mixture?" "Indeed. I am also curious if you have received something new." " I have." The woman walked to a cupboard that was holding about fifty transparent jars. She took from it and placed it on the counter. It seemed to be quite heavy. She lifted the lid. "This is an import from Vulcana Regar. You will remark that it has a fruity note." Sarek smelled at it before letting the children do so as well.

"It is not what I was looking for. Do you have something a little more ... austere?", Sarek asked. The woman lifted an eyebrow as if she wanted to determine wether Sarek's request was emotional or not. Without a word, she turned to the cupboard again, now taking another jar. "Is this what you are interested in?", she asked, opening it for him. Again, Sarek smelled at it. "It is something from the Northern Region, I presume?" "This one right here is actually made by a manufactory just outside Shi'Kahr." "Indeed? I will take some of it, however."

"From the mixture of Tarlanga, you will take as well?", the old woman asked, as this was apparently 'the usual'. Sarek nodded once.

Amanda was sitting on her little wickerwork couch and watching the stars when Sarek entered, still clad in his black meditation robe. He gracefully placed himself next to her and looked at the stars as well. "You seem much calmer than you did this morning. Good meditation?", Amanda asked, turning her eyes on him. Sarek uttered a very noncommittal 'Indeed.' They fell silent for a moment. "Just two weeks and some days until you can regularily travel to the city again." "I am aware." His tone was very flat, but she could feel his fingertips finding hers. She moved a little closer. "I thought so.", she wispered into his ear.


	17. Michael's Special Day

School was finally over and Michael could go home and hide in her room. But first, she had to pick up her little brother from the building next door and take the train home. It took Spock a few minutes to emerge into the school's square, carrying his backpack and seeming rather content, judging from his pace.

"Tonk'peh, Michael.", he greated her. Michael nodded and they left for the train station. "What makes you so happy?", Michael asked, still walking next to her brother. "Happy?" Spock raised an eyebrow. "Do you imply that I am showing emotions?" Spock had been on a super-vulcan trip lately, and they had had this conversation a few times already. Michael sighed. "No.", she lied. "But you have this content...aura.", she tried to save herself. "The others have allowed me to join in their game of ball during the lunch break. It was most refreshing.", Spock told her. In his joy, he was oblivious to Michael's bad mood.

This bad mood had started when she had realized what date it was on Earth. She would have almost forgotten that it was her birthday, weren't it for the teaching computer that had chosen this particular day to teach her how to convert Vulcan dates into those of alien planets.

Michael knew that Vulcans didn't do birthdays, which made her long for Human company. She suddenly felt very lonely and started to miss her parents even more than usually. She had almost started to cry at that point, but she knew that the others would have been disgusted. She managed to do nothing more than a quiet sniffle.

When they were almost home, Spock finally realized that his sister was more somber than usual. "Michael, is there something troubling you?", he inquired. She shook her head. "No. Nothing.", she replied almost angrily. "Indeed. I will have to further my studies on Human behavior." Spock was oblivious to the concept of not wanting to speak about something.

I-Chaya was already expecting them behind the door. He waved his tail and licked Spock's face. He wanted to do the same to Michael, but she had already disappeared to the first floor and into her room.

It was dark underneath her blanket and hiding there made her feel a lot better. She had spent quite a few minutes in this position when her door was opened. She freed her head and looked upon her visitor. She had expected anybody but Sybok. He seemed a little irritated to find her in her bed. "Amanda said that she requires you in the kitchen.", he stated, before exiting the room quickly and leaving her to her own devices.

Her curiosity instigated, Michael slipped out of the bed and went downstairs. Amanda was indeed in the kitchen. She was holding a small cake with a burning candle stuck in it. Michael squeaked in delight. "Happy Birthday, Michael!", Amanda proclaimed whispering. "Blow the candle, before Sarek comes in here and lectures us on fire hazards.", she added, amusement shining through her eyes. Michael did and the flame died. "You're nine years already. Congratulations.", Amanda said while cutting the small cake in even smaller pieces.

"I thought everyone had forgotten.", Michael confessed. Amanda seemed to pity her. "Oh, darling.", she said while handing her a piece of cake. "Everyone knows. They just don't consider birthdays to be a reason to celebrate. Like much of everything else, to be honest." Amanda sighed. "They don't do it to be mean, they just sincerely don't understand."

Michael had a bite of the cake. "Chocolate?", she asked, incredulous. She was well aware that chocolate consumption led to intoxication in Vulcans. "I got it from the Human sector of the interplanetary market.", Amanda explained with a smile. "You have to show proof that you're no Vulcan to buy it." Michael giggled. "I have more food from Earth as well.", she said and opened the fridge slightly so Michael could see the items. Some vegetables, dough and what looked like cheese. "In my family, we would always get pizza when it was somebody's birthday.", Amanda told her.

The two Vulcan boys were rather cautiously nipping on their pieces of the Human speciality that their mother wanted them to try. Sarek, on the other hand, cut himself a piece and ate it without a second thought. He knew pizza from his time on Earth and had even helped in the making of the one currently on their table. It didn't qualify as his favorite dish, not even as his favorite dish from Earth, but he found it to be adequate, especially when it made Amanda happy. Michael was incredibly happy and enjoyed every bite of it.

Sybok, his skepsis vanquished, tried a mouth-sized piece as well. He raised an eyebrow. "It is surprising.", he stated. "Any good?", Amanda asked. "It is ample. However, this yellow substance..." "It is called cheese.", his father interrupted him. "What is it made from?", Sybok asked, now curious. Sarek had to think of the state dinner he and Soran had been invited to once. His aide had almost caused an interplanetary incident when he had been told what the origin of cheese was. "It classifies as vegetarian.", he wisely stated.

Meanwhile, Spock had deared to try as well. At first, it had seemed acceptable, however a little salty. After that, the cheese became overwhelming. Spock had never before tasted something he found so vile. He almost spat it out but remembered Vulcan manners just in time to instead swallow the offending piece. Sarek raised an eyebrow watching his now slightly yellow son, but said nothing.

Spock made it through the whole piece, mostly because he wanted to show himself that he could do it, as well as displaying his appreciation for something his mother valued so much. Later, he turned his attention to the accompanying (Vulcan) salad. After this experience, Spock could never bring himself to try something containing cheese ever again, however his friends (especially Doctor McCoy in that matter) pestered him about it.


	18. Teeth

It was silent in the house. T'Khut had long risen and filled the dark sky with reddish light and shone through the windows. On the ground, Shi'Kahr spread its golden lights. It was a nice view, but nobody paid attention to it.

Sarek had just finished his work for the day and was in the process of turning his computer off, when he heard very quiet steps on his sound-proofed carpet. "May I be of assistance?", he asked his younger son, who of course was the one now standing in front of him. "I am unable to sleep.", Spock replied. Sarek sighed inwardly. He did not wish to deal with this yet again.

"I have told you before that there are no imaginary creatures in your room and we have long disposed of the gl'ik worms.", he scolded him, maybe a little harshly. "I am aware.", Spock remarked. There was a short period of silence. "What is the nature of the problem then?", Sarek asked, slightly tired. "My teeth hurt." Sarek raised an eyebrow and kneeled down so he was face-to-face to his son. "Indeed?", he asked. Spock nodded. "Is there an epicenter of the pain?", he inquired next. Spock nodded again and gently pushed against one of his central incisors. It moved.

Sarek lifted another eyebrow, now because he was slightly amused, not because of apprehension as he had previously done. "This is nothing to be concerned about. You are simply shedding your deciduous teeth." Spock looked slightly confused, therefore Sarek explained. "As your jaw grows, your first teeth, the set you have now, will fall out and be replaced by bigger ones. For humans, this second set is permanent. Vulcans, however, shed their teeth about once every fifty years. We will have to wait and find out how it is for you."

Spock eyes had become big during the impromptu science lesson. "Fall out?", he repeated, his fear audible. "It is not as frightening as it seems. I have been through this two times already.", his father assured him and let one hand rest on his shoulder. "I think you should go to bed.", he reminded his son.

Spock was back in his bed, Sarek had followed him. His father leaned forward and pressed into a pressure point between his shoulder blades to alleviate his discomfort. After a few moments of this, Sarek let go and pulled the blanket a little higher. "Sleep well.", he told him, surprising himself by using this particular Human phrase.

The next day, Spock tried really hard to stay concentrated, but failed continuously. The thrumming feeling in his jaw was simply too much. His mother even hugged him when she saw him coming inside, slightly pale and tired-looking, but only for a few seconds until he started to protest.

He refused to play with Michael and decided to lean against I-Chaya for the rest of the day. "What's wrong?", she asked. He mumbled something about tooth shedding. "That sucks.", Michael said. Spock was unfamiliar with the obviously human phrase but presumed that it was a pejorative. "Indeed.", he answered, before placing his head onto his pet's side.

Amanda was looking through a few rather ancient books about linguistics which were standing on a cupboard in her office when she tipped over a box that was a little to big for the board but usually well balanced. The lid flew away and the contents spilled on the floor. She sighed and put the things back were they belonged. It was a small collection of things that reminded her of Earth. Some postcards, models of important buildings like the millennium gate or Notre Dame, a hardcopy map and some of her most beloved childhood toys. She hadn't given any of those to her children, since most were rather used and probably incomprehensible to them. She couldn't imagine Spock playing with her lightning yellow model of a sports car.

The last object to be put back, however, didn't fit into the 'they don't know what to do with it'-category. Amanda looked at it. It was a cube with differently colored sides. Those sides were divided into nine squares each. All squares but those in the middle of the sides could be moved in three directions. Amanda smiled.

His mother came into his room, carrying a colorful object. She kneeled down next to Spock and his pet and padded I-Chaya on his head. "Spock", she said, " it is going to be alright." Spock looked up to her and nodded, but seemed unconvinced. "I found something. Maybe this will distract you for some time." She showed him the cube. Spock took it, his pain already forgotten. He turned it in every possible direction and inspected everything. "How does this work?", he finally asked. "Give it to me, I will show you.", Amanda offered. Spock handed the cube over. With a few fast movements, his mother had mixed the squares, and thus destroyed the order. She gave it back to him. "It is a puzzle. The goal is to bring it back into the orderly state it used to be in." Spock nodded happily and began to try his luck.

Later that day, Sybok was on the way to his room when he heard his younger siblings through Spock's half open door. Their voices were accompanied by the sound of something being moved very fastly. He glanced inside. On the floor was Spock, a colorful cube in his hand and Michael holding a stop watch. "Two minutes thirty five.", the girl announced. "Let me try to, please.", she added. As Sybok moved on, he had to admit that he was a little jealous but somewhat confused as well.


	19. The Box

The big box of Sehlat food had been delivered in the morning. It now sat on the kitchen floor and waited to be emptied. Amanda sighed and began to do so. When she was halfway through with sorting the portioned food in the usual cabinet, I-Chaya, Bringer of Doom to the food inside the cans, entered the kitchen. He sat down next to her and watched her intently. Amanda padded him on his back. The Sehlat seemed pleased and proceeded to carefully lift a can from the box. He held it between his theeth, moved his head forward and let it fall into the cabinet. "Good Boy!", Amanda praised him while trying not to laugh.

I-Chaya 'helped' a little while longer before the kitchen door flew open and her children entered the room."Tonk'peh", Spock greeted before slinging his arms around his pet and silently speaking to him. "How was school?", Amanda asked. Michael made a non-committal grunt. "So good?", Amanda asked again, slightly concerned. "It just was so hot all day and the main subject were Surak's Teachings. Those are bound to give me a headache." "Water helps.", Amanda advised before returning to her task.

Michael filled one glass for her and another for her brother. When she turned to give it to him, the box had been emptied and Spock had already jumped into it. "Just giant cats. All of them.", Amanda murmured while getting up. Michael snickered. "You know where to put it when you are done playing.", she reminded her son. "Yes, mother.", sounded it from inside the now closed box. Amanda nodded and left for her office.

I-Chaya sniffed the at the carton and howled. Spock immediately emerged from it. "Everything is well. I did not mean to scare you." He fondled his pet's nose. Michael handed him the glass of water. Spock drank a little before moving to one side of the box, leaving enough space for her to fit in as well. She did so. "Do you think this is how it feels to be in a shuttle?", he suddenly asked. "Cramped in a box? Not really." "But what if we were in a shuttle, what would we do?"

 _Captain's Log, Stardate 24536.1: Commander Spock and I are investigating Ghatos V, a M-Class planet. We will be taking samples to bring back to the USS Yorktown. Ghatos is a wonderful planet, filled with lush green and surprisingly hot. I am thinking about maybe having a shore leave here._

"Captain _, an unknown lifeform approaches our shuttle.", Science Officer Spock said, staring down on his make-believe tricorder. "Possibly sentient?", Captain Michael asked, putting one hand on her make-believe phaser just in case. "Hard to tell from here." "We will investigate this. Commander, come with me." They walked back to their shuttle, and hid behind a bush, as they were unsure whether the lifeform was hostile or not. "It is a biped.", the Captain remarked. "Indeed.", the science officer agreed. "Most certainly sentient. Fascinating.", he added. "I think they want to extend their greetings. Look at the cups the lifeform is carrying. Seems ceremonial to me.", the Captain guessed. "Interacting with them would pose a breech to the Prime Directive. That they have seen our shuttle is bad enough.", the Commander argued. "Maybe we can stun him and flee in the shuttle?", the Captain asked, one hand on her invisible phaser._

"I can assure you that no force is needed. Amanda merely told me to bring you some water.", Sybok deadpanned, glasses still in hand. His siblings came out from behind the bush, slightly defeated. They drank the water that was offered to them. Sybok took the glasses back and almost fell over the box that laid on the ground. "Why is this in the garden?", he pointed to the carton. "It is our shuttle." Spock explained matter-of-factly. "I see." Sybok raised an eyebrow and left the garden, gently shaking his head.

"Do you think that we can ride down the hill in this?", Michael asked while lifting the cardboard. "Maybe?", Spock wondered. They could. Spock would sit in the front, Michael in the back. They had to push themselves a few centimeters before the cardbox would gain momentum from the steep. The sand was the perfect underground for this kind of stunt. It also helped to stop them when they had reached the hill's foot. They did this quite a few times getting braver every time.

 _Stardate 24536.2: We were able to escape Ghatos V without breaking the Prime Directive too much. We are, however, now caught in an ion storm. He have lost control and are floating in space._

 _"Captain, our engines are failing. If we continue this course, we will crash into the asteriod in front of us.", the First Officer shouted over the noise of the ion storm. "I'll take the helm, you keep trying to contact the Yorktown.", Captain Michael ordered. "Helm is unresponsive. Prepare for impact.", the Captain shouted. Their engines made a last sound of despair before shutting down forever. They collided with the asteroid, the shuttle was ripped in half and they themselves were thrown out of it. They just lay there for a few moments. "Commander, can you hear me?", the Captain whispered. "Positive.", was the reply, "I am unharmed." " Me too."_

 _As it turned out, the asteroid had a live-enabling atmosphere. The Captain and the First Officer analysed the shuttle's wreckage. "There's no getting away from here.", the Captain sighed. "The Yorktown will most certainly search for us. We might be able to salvage the wreck for the subspace communication device."_ _, the Commander said. "That might not be needed. Looks like somebody is coming to save_ _us already.", the Captain cheered._

"It is time for endmeal.", Sarek told his children, making eyes at the crumbled cardboard in front of them. He wondered whether the sharp rock next to it was the cause for its destruction and if he should be worried. "You might want to shake off the sand from your clothes.", he added, looking for any obvious injuries. Both children took one part of the bisected box each and followed Sarek to the house.

 _Captain's Log, Supplemental: We have been saved from the asteroid by a diplomatic envoy carrying the Vulcan ambassador to Earth. We will be taken back to our ship and arrive there in approximately two days._


	20. The Museum

Sarek stirred in his bed. He had just returned from a week-long mission to Earth. The old trade agreements between the Humans and Vulcan had ended and needed to be renewed. The High Command had sent only him and Soran to the negotiations. This was a mistake. Earth's diplomats had expected about eight people and set up the timetable accordingly. Doing the work of four people each had taken its toll on the Vulcan party. They had barely slept or meditated, which left them slightly irritated. Both were secretly glad to finally return home.

It had been late morning when Sarek had arrived at home. He had greeted his wife and children before entering his bedroom. He had dropped his baggage on the floor and himself on his bed. He would sleep for a while, he had decided while staring at the ceiling. Getting up to change out of his traveling clothes had been more difficult than he had expected. After completing his task, he had slipped under his blanket.

When Amanda entered a few minutes later, he was still trying to find a comfortable position. "Exhausting mission?", she asked and sat down on his bed, looking at him, concern on her face. "Indeed." "Wanna talk about it?" "Later.", he murmured into his pillow. "Okay.", Amanda said softly. He just lied there for a few moments, fully aware that his wife was watching him.

Suddenly, he jerked awake, almost sitting up in the process. "What is it?", Amanda asked, trying not to laugh. "Merely our son telling the Sehlat to behave himself.", he explained. "This startled you? I could barely hear it.", she asked doubtfully. "Superior hearing works against me, it appears."

He lied back down, only to be startled again a moment later. Amanda raised an eyebrow in an effort to imitate him. "Your communication device received a message.", he explained again. "That's probably the digital copy I requested. The VSA is impressively efficient when it comes to the library.", Amanda told him. Sarek didn't seem to care. He tried to pull his pillow in a position where it would cover his ears and cut out the noises. He failed.

"What do you normally do, if even the faintest sounds keep you from falling asleep?", Amanda asked her husband, surprised about his behavior. "Usually, I am the last person awake.", he stated. Of course. An idea formed in Amanda's head.

"Put on your shoes, we are going to the city.", Amanda told her children who were playing chess in Spock's room. "Where are we going to?", Michael asked visibly excited. "You'll see." Amanda wanted to keep it a surprise. "I am ready to go, Amanda.", Sybok remarked. He stood behind her in the hallway, wearing his boots and a cloak. He had only recently begun to call her by her first name, which filled her with joy.

The surprise turned out to be the Shi'Kahr Museum of Natural History. It was located in an ancient building in the vicinity of the city center. "Are there Vulcan dinosaurs?", Michael asked after reading the big sign on the front. "We do not call the creatures of the past like that. However, the sentiment is essentially correct, although a Human one.", Sybok said. "We call them Gitau'lik.", Spock informed her proudly.

Like every museum on Vulcan, there was no entrance fee. A big hall opened itself to the visitor. Several doorways and a wide staircase led to the exhibitions. A giant fossilized skeleton was suspended from the ceiling. Its mouth with pointy theeth was wide open and its empty eyesockets stared directly at them. It had more legs than anybody could be comfortable with. "A sandworm. This ancient form mesured twenty-nine meters. Modern sandworms reach a length of merely fifteen meters.", Sybok lectured them. Michael thought that this was still way too much, but stayed silent. "Let us begin with this room.", Amanda decided behind them and pointed to one of the doors.

The first room was dedicated to the oldest creatures found by Vulcan paleontologists. They were much smaller than the sandworm. Most weren't bigger than a fingernail. They resembled bugs but had been aquatic lifeforms. They had lived in a time when Vulcan was covered in shallow oceans.

The next room had a lot more diversity. The water had gone back and terrestrial life had evolved. Fossilised plants and animals sat in their showcases and were studied by quite a few visitors.

The fossiles became gradually bigger and more evolved as their group moved through the rooms. Although they had little in common with the life on Earth, they had evolved in similar ways. This was to be expected of course, since Vulcans and Humans were not that different after all.

Finally, it was time to go to the first floor. The entire level was dedicated to what Spock had called Gitau'lik. Giant creatures filled the arched hall. Where there were only fragments, drawings displayed an educated guess of what the whole creature might have looked like. It must have been quite the effort to arrange the skeletons in a way that they fit but still left some space to walk between them.

The children were amazed and spent some time in front of every display, reading the information tablets. Amanda tagged along, having heard everything there was to know from Sarek more than once. For being a diplomat, the guy knew way too much about telepathic Vulcan dinosaurs. She cherished watching her children showing interest in things. Currently, Michael and Spock had a discussion about an exhibit, a big herbivore. Amanda couldn't hear what it was about, only see that Sybok was slowly moving away from them.

Another set of stairs at the end of the hall led to the second floor. A few smaller rooms held the evolution of Vulcans in several steps. This was especially interesting to Michael, who had never even thought about this subject. She was surprised to learn that prehistorical Vulcans had round ears and were much smaller than the modern version.

When they arrived back home, Sarek was already in the kitchen and stirring up some stew. He appeared to be a lot better than in the morning. He listened to the children's report of their visit with great interest, occasionally asking questions. "How did you sleep?", Amanda asked after the children had scattered around the house to do things before dinner. "Quite well." Amanda was not happy with that answer. "There is a 'but'.", she remarked. "I-Chaya woke me by liking my face." Amanda tried not to giggle too loud. "Next time, I'm taking the Sehlat as well.", she promised.

Gitau'lik = creatures of the past


	21. L'tak Terai

Spock looked very tired when he came into his mother's office. She laid down her notes and mustered him with concern. "Everything alright?", she asked. Spock just shook his head and jumped on her lap. She slung her arms around him. "Was it the thing again?" Spock nodded. "They made fun of me for losing my way on school grounds.", Spock murmured into her shoulder. "That was very mean of the other kids.", Amanda assured him. "It's not your fault.", she added on second thought. "The teacher scolding me for having to take me back to my designated learning unit was worse.", Spock said like he hadn't heard his mother. Amanda had troubles finding words. How could they! She decided to talk to Sarek again.

They sat like that for a few moments. While Spock seemed to try to hide in her lap, Amanda thought hard. She needed to help her son somehow. But how to help a child when right was left and up was down? She led her eyes wander through her office. Notes were laying everywhere. She was currently writing an essay about absurd literature in Andorian, Terran and Vulcan cultures. While doing her research, she had sometimes stopped to wonder whether the described was an accurate representation of what L'tak Terai felt like. Maybe he could make Spock feel better by showing him other people overcoming similar struggles?

"Have you ever heard of the sequel to _Alice in Wonderland_?", she asked while pulling the book out of a stack of notes. Her son looked up to her, curiosity showing in his eyes. He shook his head. Amanda showed him the cover. It was wonderfully colorful and looked like something that should under no circumstances be found on the desk of a serious scientist.

"It's called _Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There_.", she read the title for him. "What is a 'Looking-Glass'?", Spock asked. Amanda had to smile at that. "I had to look that one up as well. It's just an old word for mirror.", she explained. "I do not understand how somebody could pass through a mirror.", Spock commented. "Shall we find out?" Spock nodded excitingly at that.

Amanda spent the rest of the day reading the story to her son. He was exited when he found out about the chess-themed plot, a little confused by all the singing characters and somewhat scared by the end and the question whose dream it had been all along. He was about to get up when Amanda held him back. "May I ask you something?" "Yes, mother." Spock looked puzzled. "Was this what you experience, sometimes?" She pointed to the book in her hands. He seemed to think about it. "Somewhat.", he finally answered. They heard a Sehlat whine behind the closed door. "I need to feed I-Chaya.", Spock remarked and left the room, pressing himself between the wall and a very unsatisfied Sehlat.

"We need to do something.", Amanda told her husband. They were sitting on the edge of his bed and she had just retold Spock's story of his day. "What do you suppose we do?", Sarek asked, dreading being talked into making another plea to the school's administrator. "We need to talk to the school again. They have to at least respect his needs."

Sarek vividly remembered the last time he had done so. The administrator was a woman of rather harsh views. She flat out told him that the L'tak Terai Syndrome was probably caused by their son being of mixed heritage and that it was their fault entirely. She refused to help solve problems that were caused by other's bad decisions. Sarek, being adamant that his son was not 'a bad decision', had complained to a higher authority but had stayed without an answer. "They will not do anything.", he told his wife, being sure that this was the truth. "He will eventually overcome this on his own.", he tried to soothe Amanda. She wouldn't have any of this. "Not you as well.", she almost shouted, before getting up and leaving. She didn't see Sarek's Vulcan-shocked expression.

Sarek waited a few minutes before going after his wife. He took the time to write another letter, this time to the head teacher. Like he expected, he found her in her bedroom. She was under her blanket and rolled into a ball. "Amanda?", he asked softly from behind her. "What's it?", she asked back while turning to him. Her eyes were quite red. He sat down on the floor next to her. "Have you been crying?", he asked, slightly confused. "Only a little.", she murmured. "May I inquire as to why?", Sarek asked, sometimes being completely clueless about his wife's reactions. "Do you remember how I told you that I was dyslexic?" "I see.", Sarek realized. "You think that Spock may have inherited this trait from you." Amanda nodded. "You are in no way responsible for your genetic make-up. Please do not feel bad because of it."

The next day, Amanda watched Spock and Michael play outside. They tossed a ball between each other, being careful not to hit any of the blue roses. Spock looked happier than he had all day, and her insides became a little warmer. From time to time, he didn't manage to catch the ball, grabbing in the air next to it instead, but hadn't Amanda known, she would have attributed this to having the reflexes of a now five-year-old. 'Maybe this is going to resolve itself eventually', she thought. She really wished for it.

Thank you to _Texas Cow Girl_ for the prompt. I hope you like this.


	22. Let's Go Fly a Kite

When Michael and Spock arrived at home, the entrance area was filled with white boxes. They were stacked onto each other and towered over Spock. As they were taking their shoes off, Sarek entered, carrying two more boxes. He stacked them on top of some others.

"Sa-mekh, what are those?", Spock asked, his curiosity peaked. "Storage boxes.", his father explained. "But why do you bring them up here?", Michael now asked. "The closing mechanism on one of the windows in the basement has failed which caused the wind to blow quite a bit of sand inside. Bringing the storage containers up here will make the cleaning process significantly easier." "I see.", Spock stated. "Do you need help?", Michael inquired. "Help would be appreciated.", Sarek answered, looking somewhat tired.

When the children came to the basement room, there were about ten boxes left. A giant hill of sand had accumulated in the middle of the room. The boxes turned out to be quite heavy. They only managed to carry one together, while Sarek proceeded to take two by himself. When the children were carrying one of the last boxes, it happened. Spock lost his footing, he stumbled to the floor and the box fell with him. The lid sprung wide open and the box's colorful contents spilled down the stairs.

Michael made sure her little brother wasn't seriously injured before turning to the mess on the floor. She saw several pieces of thin colorful cloth, artfully made. Thin, long pieces of light wood lay in between, as well as a couple of twines. "What is this?", Spock asked, fascinated by the cloths' patterns.

"It is called a kite.", Sarek explained, who had just appeared over them. "What is its purpose?" Spock's eyes grew wide as he asked, eager to learn new things. Sarek came down the stairs and kneeled next to them. "In ancient times, kites were used as a form of archaic communication over long distances. Today, they have lost their original use but are still useful in teaching aerodynamics and training motor skills."

"Aerodynamics?", Spock repeated. "It does not look like something that could fly." "You need to put the wood through these holes first.", Michael interjected, while indicating what she meant. "You have experience with such things?", it was Sarek's turn to ask. Michael was slightly amused. "There are kites on earth as well, you know.", she told him smugly. "I should think so.", was the only reply she got.

With additional help from Sybok, the basement room was efficiently cleaned and the window repaired. Sarek decided that it had gotten rather late and that he should prepare dinner. Amanda had gone to a Conference on Tellar and would not return until the following week. He turned to the kitchen, but something held him back.

"Please, Spock, desist from tugging my clothing.", he rebuked his son while gently pushing his tiny hand away from his trousers. Spock did not seem to take note of that. "I wish to see the kite fly.", he stated instead, hope showing through his eyes. "Not today. It is almost dark." "Tomorrow then?", Spock hoped. Sarek mentally checked his calendar. Tomorrow, he had to have a meeting with the Andorian ambassador, which would make him longer than his regular work day. "This is not possible, I am afraid. However, the day after tomorrow will be suitable.", he told his son, who seemed content by this answer.

Two days later, Sarek was sitting on his couch and petting the resident Sehlat, waiting for the children to come home. He only seldomly pet I-Chaya in front of his wife, due to her tendency to tease him. 'I knew you had a soft spot for soft creatures.', she would say, smiling mockingly and making his ears flush green. He liked them best in their usual color.

He let go of the pet as soon as he heard the lock snap open. "Change into clothing that is suitable for outdoor activities.", he advised Michael and Spock. The folded kite was already laying next to the door.

They were trekking up a medium sized hill that had a plateau on top. Sarek knew that this place was almost always windy enough, having come here with Sybok before, almost ten years prior. When they reached the top, Sarek showed the children (and I-Chaya) how to set up the kite. The wind came down from the higher L-lagons and tugged at the half finished kite as he did.

Michael marveled at the Vulcan kite that her brother was currently trying to keep flying. It was formed like a tube and had a long tail, making it look like a dragon from Chinese legends. "Do the kites on Earth look similar?", Sarek asked next to her, genuinely curious. "Not really.", Michael admitted. She stared at the kite for a little longer. Soon, the wind changed and the kite fell to the ground.

"Let me try it too.", Michael demanded and Spock handed her the strings. Sarek helped her by throwing the construct high in the air. The dragon flapped in the air, but stayed high above her. She had to slightly move to keep it there. It was harder than it looked, she remarked.

"Sa-mekh, where do you have the kite from?", Spock asked, while sitting down on a rock. Sarek sat down as well. "It was a gift from my father when I was a boy. I am not sure where he acquired it." "So old?", Spock was amazed. Sarek struggled not to show his amusement too much at being called old. It had been just last week that Spock had found out his father's date of birth, and he was still not over the fact that Sarek was more than twice his mother's age.

"Did your father ever go to the hills with you?", Spock wanted to know next, while moving an inch nearer to him. Sarek shook his head. "My father was, and still is a very busy man."

Spock looked at him for a moment. "Thank you for being here.", he finally said. Sarek wanted to say something, but just couldn't. He simply nodded once.

Sa-mekh = father


	23. A Family Visit

Skon's house was positioned on the edge of the desert. It was made of black stone and looked as regal as the man himself. "What are your grandparents like?", Michael hushed in Spock's direction as they watched the house come nearer through the aircar's windows.

Before he had a chance to reply, Sarek answered for him. "Spock has not yet had an opportunity to meet my father." "How is this?", Michael inquired. "My parents were...", Sarek seemed to search for the right word, "...not content about my choice of partner."

The car stopped in front of the house and let its passengers outside. "Do you really think that this is a good idea?", Amanda questioned her husband. Sarek threw a surreptitious glance at Sybok who was trailing along a few meters behind them. He always liked his grandparents "I hope so."

The automatic doorbell alarmed the house's inhabitants of their visitors. It was only a few moments before the door was opened. A woman of undeterminable age (at least in the eyes of a human) stood in the frame and mustered the family. There was silence for a few uncomfortable seconds. The woman finally spoke. "Sarek, son of mine. We were expecting you. Please enter." They did.

When everyone was in the hallway and the door closed, keeping the scorching hot air outside, Sarek turned to Amanda and the two younger children. "This is T'Rama, my mother." The woman nodded once, studying Amanda closely. "I know thine son Sybok. Who are the others?" She acted like everyone except Sarek were statues. Before Sarek could answer, however, Skon entered the hallway coming from upstairs.

He nodded in Sarek's general direction. "My son. It is good to see you." He stopped next to T'Rama and gave the newcomers a curious look. Amanda decided at this point to take initiative. "Greetings. My name is Amanda Grayson and those are Michael and Spock. I believe you are already aquainted to Sybok.", she said in the most well-articulated Vulcan she could muster. T'Rama and Skon looked as flabbergasted as two proud Vulcans could. Sarek gave her an appreciative look.

T'Rama served tea and everybody was kneeling around a low table in the living room. "Are the children from a former marriage of yours?", Skon asked Amanda innocently in English. "I was never married before. Spock is Sarek's and mine, and we adopted Michael over a year ago.", Amanda replied in ostensibly good Vulcan. The older Vulcan seemed to be taken aback. "Hardly. Vulcans and Humans are not able to reproduce.", he seemed sure of himself, and ignored his son's raised eyebrows.

Amanda remembered how bewildered Sarek's sister had been at the revelation. "Spock, show me your ears, will you.", she softly asked her son. She could swear that she saw mischief glim in his eyes for a second. Spock lifted the corners of his hair over his ears, revealing delicate points. He looked at the man not believing in his existence. "Indeed.", Skon said cautiously. "It must be true then." "It is, Sir.", Spock affirmed, letting go of his hair. Sybok stubbed Michael under the table to keep her from giggling.

"Maybe the children could go and explore the ruins, if you would not mind.", Sarek proposed. "Certainly.", T'Rama said. She stood and opened the back door for them. "The ruins are just behind those trees.", she explained and pointed in the right direction.

"Vulcan has adequate females as well, why could thou not choose one of them?", Skon went right to business after the children had left. Amanda tried to not make the situation worse by showing signs of anger. She concentrated on her tea bowl instead, which was admittedly rather beautiful. "Thou once told me that you wished to have a mate who shared your scientific interests.", T'Rama added. "I fail to understand why thou would choose an illogical Human over a scientist from our planet."

Amanda could not see Sarek's expression from where she was seated. She could, however, guess from the fingers curling around hers. "Amanda actually is a scientist, mother. She currently is a linguistic researcher at the VSA. She also played a major role in the development of the Universal Translator. She is kind, respectful and takes good care of the children. We share multiple fields of interest, such as music, ethnography, art and strategy games. I could not wish for a more compatible mate."

"But there is more to a mate than all that.", his father interjected, sipping from his tea before handing him a PADD. Sarek took and held it in a way for Amanda to see. It was the database of Shi'Kahr's single women. Realizing what he was seeing, Sarek gave it right back. "There will be no need of that.", he proclaimed, his voice dangerously even. "It is only for thine best.", his mother stated. Sarek exhaled audibly. "Mother, Father, if you cannot accept that I have for once made a decision on my own, then there is nothing for me to say but 'Good Afternoon'." He stood and pulled Amanda after him, out through the backdoor.

"I love you too.", Amanda said after they were out of hearing range. Sarek looked at her for a long moment. "I know.", he said softly, before turning his attention to finding his children.

Superior hearing meant he could pick up Michael's laughter before he could see her. The ruins were those of an ancient Sehlat stable, but the children were apparently pretending them to be the remains of a castle. Spock was holding a stick in a way one would a lirpa, and Sybok was looming over him and making lematya sounds. Michael leaned on another piece of dry wood and laughed at the spectacle. Sarek could not blame them, as he had done similar things in his own time.

"We are going home.", Amanda explained. The children nodded solemly and came over. He took hold of his wife's index and middle finger again. She looked up to him, a smile on her face. It was definitely worth it, he decided.

 **Can you find the reference to a certain other fandom?**


	24. A Rose By Any Other Name

Michael, Spock and I-Chaya were playing in the garden, as they often did lately. Spock had taught I-Chaya to throw a frisbee with his mouth, therefore the Sehlat participated in their game of ultimate frisbee. Surely, it was a bit of a strange game to play with only two players, a giant ball of fur and a rather small field, but the children didn't care.

Spock had just caught a very wet frisbee from I-Chaya, when he stepped on a rock, lost his balance, and fell right into one of his mother's rose bushes, face forward of course. He heard Michael laugh. Slightly offended, he tried to wiggle free, but the plant's thorns had caught him. "Help me!", he whined in the ground's direction. "Are you caught?", Michael asked and came nearer. "Indeed.", Spock muttered, suddenly a bit ashamed. I-Chaya began to howl and sniff at him. What would his mother say if she saw the damage he had caused? She had told them to pay attention when playing in the garden, but they hadn't listened.

Michael gave her best at trying to free her brother, but she got tangled up herself. With some force, she managed to break away. "Let me try.", Amanda suddenly offered. Spock tried to move his head. He hadn't heard her coming. "Be still.", his mother ordered. She kneeled down and put an arm around his belly and lifted him up. Once in this position, she pulled all the rose branches out of his clothes. After a few moments, Spock was finally free.

"Haven't I told you not to play frisbee in the garden?", his mother asked, more amused than annoyed. She put him on his own feet. Spock looked at the blood running from his arms and legs. Michael just stood there, unsure of what she should do. Amanda sighed. "Let's get you cleaned up before dinner.", she said and they followed her inside.

Upon seeing his shredded-looking son following Amanda into the house, Sarek lifted an eyebrow. "What has happened?", he asked in Vulcan. "He has fallen into one of the rose bushes.", Michael answered him in Standard. Now, Sarek raised the second brow as well. "Can you clean him up while I continue making dinner?", Amanda asked him. Sarek nodded. "Of course."

"Why did you fall?", Sarek asked his son while helping him out of his clothing, occasionally pulling out a thorn. Spock sniffled a bit. "I stepped on a rock and lost balance.", he confessed. "You will have to pay more attention next time.", Sarek stated as he took a wet cloth to clean his son's bloody arms. Spock nodded fiercely. "I will."

At dinner time, nobody, not even Sybok, commented on Spock's change of outfit. Lately, Sybok was rather preoccupied with other things. He hadn't been mean to his little brother for at least a month. Or maybe, he had finally grown out of it. Still, Spock seemed to lack appetite, if him playing with his spoon was any indication. Finally, he did take some of his plomeek soup.

After dinner, Michael came up to Spock. "Do you want to play chess?", she asked. Spock shook his head. "No. I want to be alone.", he replied and left rather hastily. Michael shrugged and followed him up the stairs to get to her room.

"I believe our son is emotionally compromised.", Sarek said to Amanda as they were sitting in her office together. "Really? I didn't realize.", Amanda said, the irony obvious. "However, I do not understand why.", Sarek continued, refusing to be irritated. Amanda snickered. "Because he is embarrassed for his little stunt from earlier. You know how much he tries to be the perfect Vulcan." Sarek nodded. "What do you suppose we should do?", he wanted to know. "Why don't you tell him the story of your first meeting with our roses?", Amanda suggested.

Somebody knocked at Spock's door. He pretended to not be there and snuggled even closer to I-Chaya's body. It knocked again. Defeated, Spock went and opened. His father stood there. "May I enter?", he asked, looking imperceptibly uncomfortable. Curious, Spock let him do so. He sat next to I-Chaya again. Thinking for a moment, Sarek decided to sit on the floor as well. He remained silent for a few moments, only petting I-Chaya between its ears.

"Have I ever told you the story about how I have fallen into the rose bushes?", he asked out of the blue. Spock shook his head. "You were just two and a half months old. We had just received the roses in a transport from earth and had planted them." Spock nodded expectantly. "I was in the garden, throwing a frisbee for I-Chaya to catch." At the mentioning of its name, I-Chaya opened its eyes and looked at his master. Sarek resumed petting the Sehlat. "We engaged in a game in which I would throw the frisbee, and both of us would run to catch it before the other did. I was so focused on the task that I overlooked the rose in front of me." Spock started to understand what his father wanted to tell him.

"Amanda had to come and help me up, as I was unable to do so by myself. I was wearing my long robes as I was scheduled to meet a Terran diplomatic envoy later that morning. I did arrive late, due to this incident. The Terran ambassador refused to believe me, as he was certain that Vulcans had perfect body control and peripheral vision. I could not convince him otherwise."

Sarek looked at his son for a moment. He laid a hand on his shoulder. "I thought you should know.", he said as he stood. Without another word, he left, leaving Spock to wonder what had just happened. He snuggled against I-Chaya, feeling a lot better than he had before.

 _This story is dedicated to my newest follower for inspiring me to write another chapter. You know who you are._


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